38 THE LAND-MARKS OF 



alone answers the purpose equally well if you 

 are at all experienced.) " If your attention re- 

 laxes, he comes down and backs away ; catch 

 hold of him by the tail or smack him on the 

 back, and he will come to attention again. Keep 

 him occupied with an object in front of him, 

 and you may do anything to him ; place your 

 right hand above his head, and you can bring 

 him flat to the ground, but without any attempt 

 at resistance. After he has stood up some time, 

 it is easy to provoke a strike ; this, however, is 

 rarely done viciously, and the injury inflicted 

 is generally conflned to his own nose. Most 

 captured cobras have their noses barked raw 

 from frequent hits against hard substances." As 

 Supposed love for the suake's supposed love for music, I have 



for music. . ... at^-kt'ii 



certamly not noticed it. As Dr. I^icholson re- 

 mar l<s, the country music played by snake- 

 charmers during the cobra's performance is quite 

 superfluous, and from the very imperfect con- 

 dition of the auditory apparatus, it is highly 

 probable that it has very little appreciation of 

 sound. It has been said that when a large 

 number of remedies are to be found for any . 

 particular disease, that disease is either very easy, 

 or impossible, to cure. There is probably no 



