THE MUSSURAMA 21 



affect. There are several mammals immune to snake- 

 bite, including various species of hedgehog, pig, and 

 mongoose — the other mammals which kill them do so 

 by pouncing on them unawares, or by avoiding their 

 stroke through sheer quickness of movement; and 

 probably this is the case with most snake-eating birds. 

 The mongoose is very quick, but in some cases at least 

 — I have mentioned one in the " African Game Trails " 

 — it permits itself to be bitten by poisonous snakes, 

 treating the bite with utter indifference. There should 

 be extensive experiments made to determine if there 

 are species of mongoose immune to both cobra and 

 viper poison. Hedgehogs, as determined by actual ex- 

 periments, pay no heed at all to viper poison even 

 when bitten on such tender places as the tongue and 

 lips, and eat the snake as if it were a radish. Even 

 among animals which are not immune to the poison 

 different species are very differently affected by the 

 different kinds of snake poisons. Not only are some 

 species more resistant than others to all poisons, but 

 there is a wide variation in the amount of immunity 

 each displays to any given venom. One species will be 

 quickly kiUed by the poison from one species of snake, 

 and be fairly resistant to the poison of another ; whereas 

 in another species the conditions may be directly 

 reversed. 



The mussurama which Doctor Brazil handed me was 

 a fine specimen, perhaps four and a half feet long. I 

 lifted the smooth, lithe bulk in my hands, and then let 

 it twist its coils so that it rested at ease in my arms ; it 

 glided to and fro, on its own length, with the sinuous 

 grace of its kind, and showed not the shghtest trace 

 of either nervousness or bad temper. Meanwhile the 

 doctor bade his attendant put on the table a big jara- 



