NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 181 
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COBRA-DE-CAPELLO. 
sula, often called Snake-Eating Cobra, is the most dangerous 
of all serpents, because it is the largest and the most ath- 
letic of the venomous species, and for its bite there is no 
effective antidote. It feeds only on living snakes. The fine 
specimen exhibited is about ten feet in length. 
The Cobra-de-Capello, (Naja tripudians), of which some 
fine specimens are shown, is the terror of India, where it 
kills between 18,000 and 20,000 people annually! This 
is the most deadly of all serpents. For its bite, science has 
thus far been powerless to find an antidote, although Dr. 
Albert Calmette, of Lille, France, experimenting extensively 
in this direction, has secured partially successful results. 
The most vicious snake in North America, and one of 
the ugliest in appearance, is the Water Moccasin, (Ancts- 
trodon piscivorus),—closely related to the beautiful Copper- 
head, (A. contortrix). It is more dreaded in the South than 
the rattler, because it strikes on the slightest provocation, 
and without the rattler’s timely warning. Its colors are 
dull, its scales rough, its body ill-shaped and clumsy, its 
temper is vicious, and for every reason it is a serpent to be 
disliked. 
The Diamond-Back Rattlesnake, (Crotalus adamanteus), is 
too handsome, too showy, and too large to be chosen as the 
best average type of the genus Crotalus; but he is king of 
his kind, and cannot be ignored. Three species shown side 
