132 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Aug. 10, 1888. 



that the mungus {Hcrpestes griseus) was proof against all 

 serpent bites. This little animal is indeed wonderfully 

 successful in destroying the cobra and other Indian death- 

 snakes, but it effects its task simply by its wonderful 

 agility, which enables it to tear open the throat of the 

 snake before the latter can plant a bite. But if a mungus 

 is inoculated with cobra-venom it perishes, just as would 

 a rat, a dog, or, for the matter of that, a man. 



The body of this formidable serpent is rounded, slightly 

 thickened about the middle, and the head has the same 

 width as the neck, so that it presents, when at rest, very 

 much the same appearance as the ordinary non-poisonous 

 snakes. When excited it erects the anterior part of its 

 body and expands the skin of its neck, so as to form a 

 kind of hood extending behind the neck. The gape of 

 the mouth is wide, which gives greater facility for biting. 

 On each side of the upper jaw there is a poison-fang. 

 The fangs are not, as in some serpents, capable of erec- 

 tion and depression, but are immovable. 



In colour this formidable reptile varies. Most com- 

 monly its general colour is of a uniform deep brown, 

 sometimes verging on black, and ofcen intersected on the 

 side by white transverse stripes. When the neck is dis- 

 tended, there appear behind two white spots with black 

 centres, connected by a white arch bordered with black, 

 and presenting a rough resemblance to a pair of spec- 

 tacles. 



In length the cobra varies from 2 feet to 2 i yards. It 

 inhabits India, Ceylon, the Eastern peninsula from Burma 

 to Siam and Tonkin, and even the more southern parts 

 of China. It is common in the Western portion of the 

 Malay Archipelago, but it has never yet been found in 

 Celebes, the Moluccas, New Guinea, or Australia. In 

 Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and in the north, east, and south 

 of Africa it is replaced by a kindred species, Naja Haje, 

 very similar in its habits and in the intensity of its venom, 

 but for the most part smaller. In India the true cobra is 

 exceedingly numerous ; it haunts drains, wells, water- 

 holes, old tree-trunks, ruined walls, stone heaps, etc. 

 Far from shunning man, it frequents by preference towns 

 and villages, and enters houses. It pursues fishes in the 

 streams, climbs palm-trees to capture birds, and hunts 

 for mice, rats, lizards, frogs, etc., in gardens and court- 

 yards. These habits, in addition to its nocturnal cha- 

 racter, make it much more dangerous than it would be if 

 it confined itself to the woods and the marshes. It is 

 said that in British India alone more than 10,000 persons 

 perish yearly from its bite, so that its destruction, if pos- 

 sible, becomes an imperial interest. 



It seizes and swallows its prey at once, neither strang- 

 ling its victims by constriction, like the pythons, nor 

 biting and then waiting until the venom has taken effect. 



The nature of this serpent's prey raises a very difficult 

 question. Why or how should the cobra elaborate a 

 poison so much more powerful than it apparently needs ? 

 The intensity seems a luxury. To a creature feeding on 

 rats and mice, what use is it to be able to kill a dog, a 

 swine, a man, perhaps a tiger or a panther ? For de- 

 fence it can scarcely be, since the wounded animal, 

 though sure to succumb in a couple of hours, has ample 

 time to take its revenge. 



The pugnacity of the cobra, and its confidence in its 

 own resources are boundless. It needs very little provo- 

 cation to act on the offensive. Had Waterton studied the 

 cobra and, indeed, certain other Indian and African ser- 

 pents, he could not have said that they flee from man and 

 never pursue a retreating enemy. It is on record that a 



dog, seeing two cobras in a meadow, committed the in- 

 discretion of barking at them. The snakes, instantly un- 

 coiling, gave chase. The dog leaped into a river, but the 

 cobras, overtaking him in the water, bit him so viciously 

 that he died in less than an hour. 



It is curious that the snake-charmers of the Far East 

 are fond of exhibiting tamed cobras in their performances. 

 It is sometimes said that the poison-fangs are carefully 

 broken out of the cobra's jaw. But we are inclined to 

 suspect that these serpents are hypnotised — a state to 

 which reptiles have been proved to be susceptible. 

 They are even, it is reported, rendered stiff and inflexible 

 as rods — in other words, thrown into a state of catalepsy 

 — and in that state are handled and flourished about by 

 the jugglers. Here, however, further investigation is 

 wanted. 



NOTES ON THE TIGER. 

 Mr. Inverarity communicated, a short time ago, to 

 the Bombay Natural History Society, a paper on 

 this subject, from which we make some extracts. The 

 size of the animal is apparently often exaggerated. The 

 author thinks that the majority of tigers are under o| feet. 

 The measurements taken by sportsmen are, however, in- 

 variably deceptive, as they persist in running the tape 

 from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, instead of to 

 the root. As the tail bears no fixed proportion to the size 

 of the animal, the result is worthless. Tigers are supposed 

 to breed once only in three years, which Mr. Inverarity 

 coolly pronounces " unsatisfactory intelligence for the 

 sportsman." 



These animals, it appears, may reach the age of twenty 

 years. The evidence on which this statement rests shows 

 the mischief resulting from the neglect of sportsmen to 

 use poisoned bullets. 



In weight the tiger ranges from 350 to 700 lbs. 



The authordeniesthat tigers inkilling dislocate the neck 

 or sever any important blood-vessel. Large and powerful 

 animals like the bull buffalo and bull bison (a bison in 

 India ! !) are attacked from behind. Occasionally the 

 tiger will feed upon the dead bodies of its own species. 

 Mr. Inverarity has never met with any instance of the 

 " sledge-hammer stroke " of the fore-paw of a tiger. 

 Lastly, we notice that this beast is not absolutely unable 

 to climb trees, as it is commonly believed. 



Abnormal Habits of Animals. — Correspondents of the 

 Field declare that in Britain rabbits have been occa- 

 sionally known to climb trees, and two cases are given 

 of dogs having performed the same unlikely feat. Hares 

 are also said sometimes to burrow, and rabbits to swim. 



Sensitiveness of the Eye. — The sensitiveness of the 

 eye for different colours is not identical. Herr H. Ebert 

 (Cosmos) finds that it is greatest for green. Then follow 

 red, greenish-blue, yellow and blue. A spectrum very 

 dimly illuminated appears as a uniform grey band. 



THE LOCOMOTION OF CATER- 

 PILLARS. 



TN a communication to the Academy of Sciences M. 

 -*- G. Carlet describes the result of his observations on 

 the locomotion of caterpillars. It has been hitherto sup- 

 posed that when creeping, the two feet of the same pair 

 are never moved together, a notion which the author 

 fully refutes. 



