158 INDIAN SNAKE POISONS, 



upon the snakes in the jungle, but the presence of these 

 reptiles amongst the very people, who take not even the 

 ordinary precautions against being bitten. It is the 

 indifiference of the people to the presence of these 

 enemies in their very midst that produces the fearful 

 loss of life in India. The toleration accorded to snakes 

 is simply incredible. A native, to my knowledge, has 

 allowed a poisonous reptile to escape that had fatally 

 bitten a member of his family. The attitude of the Indian 

 peasant towards poisonous snakes may be described as 

 that of passive toleration to avoid their active enmity. 

 Sometimes, indeed, it even goes further than this, and 

 snakes are offered food to propitiate them. On this 

 ground alone it would seem wise to follow up a policy 

 thiit would tend to rouse in the native mind an idea of 

 resistance and hostility. 



But may not the reward stimulate the inhabitants to 

 breed snakes, and not to catch them ? Means as far as 

 possible have been taken to obtain information on this 

 subject. I have bred cobras, and have found it a work 

 of great difficulty. If the eggs become too dry, develop- 

 ment is suspended ; if they are made too moist, it is 

 stopped altogether. They require, therefore, great* 

 attention. When the young cobra is hatched it is very 

 small, very irritable, and exceedingly dangerous. A 

 full-grown cobra can be handled with perfect safety, but 

 a young one, ten or eleven inches long, is so active, and 

 its body is so small, that it can be scarcely touched with 



