NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 181 



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 

 Cne 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, Prance, 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, (Ancis- 

 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, (Crotalns 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 



