114 INDIAN SNAKE POISONS, 



of the poison fangs with his long incisors, and then 

 devours the cobra — thus rendered helpless — at his 

 leisure. That the mongoose is perfectly aware of the 

 existence of the poison-fang there can be no doubt, for 

 he only seizes the cobra by the fang ; and should he 

 miss his aim, he retires at once out of reach, to make 

 a fresh attack. But the presence of the poison certainly 

 does not deter him in the slightest degree from engaging 

 in the struggle, and so does not in the least protect the 

 cobra from him. The enemy also of one kind of snake 

 is the enemy of the race, so that one kind of poison 

 would be of equal assistance as a means of defence to 

 all species. As a protection from enemies, therefore, a 

 case can scarcely be made out in favour of the poison. 

 But as an aid in procuring food, we can see at once that 

 it would avail much. The cobra, living in holes in the 

 jungle and around villages, haunts the water. Deprived 

 of water, it dies very soon. It is a well-known fre- 

 quenter of the village tank, and visits the neighbouring 

 j heels or ponds, and it is in these localities that it finds 

 its favourite food — the frogs. Now, few animals have 

 such a wonderful tenacity of life as the frog; and it is 

 easy to see that the victim can be even a source 'of 

 danger to his devourer. But in the very act of swallow- 

 ing it is charged of necessity by the poison-apparatus 

 with a most powerfully paralysing venom which speedily 

 reduces it to a state of motionlessness, and so placQ^ it at 

 the mercy of the gastric arrangements of its enemy. The 



