440 THE COBRA. 
“ The natives of South Africa regard the Boomslange as poisonous, but in 
their opinion we cannot concur, as we have not been able to discover the exist - 
ence of any gland manifestly organized for the secretion of poison. The 
fangs are inclosed in a soft pulpy sheath, the inner surface of which is 
commonly coated with a thin glairy secretion. This secretion possibly may 
have something acrid and irritating in its quality, which may, when it enters 
a wound, occasion pain and swelling, but nothing of great importance. 
“The Boomslange is generally found on trees, to which it resorts for the 
purpose of catching birds, upon which it delights to feed. The presence of 
a specimen in a tree is generally soon discovered by the birds of the neigh- 
bourhood, who collect around it and fly to and fro, uttering the most piercing 
cries, until sorne one, more terror-struck than the rest, actually scans its lips, 
and almost without resistance becomes a meal for its enemy. During such 
a proceeding the snake is generally observed with its head raised about ten 
or twelve inches above the branch round which its body and tail are 
entwined, with its mouth open and its neck inflated, as if anxiously endea- 
vouring to increase the terror which it would almost appear it was aware 
would sooner or later bring within its grasp some one of the feathered group. 
“ Whatever may be said in ridicule of fascination, it is nevertheless true 
that birds, and even quadrupeds also, are, under certain circumstances, 
unable to retire from the presence of certain of their enemies ; and, what is 
even more extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to advance from a 
situation of actual safety into one of the most imminent danger. This I have 
often seen exemplified in the case of birds and snakes ; and I have heard of 
instances equally curious, in which antelopes and other quadrupeds have been 
so bewildered by the sudden appearance of crocodiles, and by the grimaces 
and contortions they practised, as to be unable to fly or even move from the 
spot towards which they were approaching to seize them.” 
WE now come to one of the most deadly of the serpent tribe, the well- 
known CoBRA DI CAPELLO, or HOODED Copra, of India. 
This celebrated serpent has long been famous, not only for the deadly power 
of its venom, but for the singular performances in which it takes part. The 
Cobra inhabits many parts of Asia, and in almost every place where it is 
found certain daring men take upon themselves the profession of serpent 
charmers, and handle these fearful reptiles with impunity, cause them to 
move in time to certain musical sounds, and assert that they bear a life charmed 
against the bite of their reptilian playmates. One of these men will take a 
Cobra in his bare hands, toss it about with perfect nonchalance, allow it to twine 
about his naked breast, tie it round his neck, and treat it with as little cere- 
mony as if it were an earthworm He will then take the same serpent—or 
apparently the same—make it bite a fowl, which soon dies from the poison, 
and will then renew his performances. 
Some persons say that the whole affair is but an exhibition of that jugglery 
in which the Indians are such wondrous adepts ; that the serpents with 
which the man plays are harmless having been deprived of their fangs, and 
that a really venomous specimen is adroitly substituted for the purpose of 
killing the fowl. It is moreover said, and truly, that a snake, thought to 
have been rendered innocuous by the deprivation of its fangs, has bitten one 
of its masters and killed him, thus proving the imposture. , 
Still, neither of these explanations will entirely disprove the mastery of 
man over a venomous serpent. In the first instance, it is surely as perilous 
an action to substitute a venomous serpent as to play with it. Where was 
it hidden, why did it not bite the man instead of the fowl, and how did the 
juggler prevent it from using its teeth while he was conveying it away? 
And, in the second instance, the detection of an impostor is by no means a 
