NAJA HAJE. 87 



several vain efforts to rise, his legs became paralytic, and after 

 continuing in this state for an hour he expired. — A large dog was 

 bitten by a Cobra di Capello, which had been captive only two 

 days. He complained a good deal at the instant of the bite, and 

 the leg was soon drawn up. In twenty-five minutes he was seized 

 with convulsions, succeeded by stupor, in which he lay for ten 

 minutes ; the convulsions, however, returned, and he expired in a 

 quarter of an hour, being fifty-six minutes after the bite. Dr. Russel 

 endeavoured also to ascertain the effect of the bite of the Cobra di 

 Capello upon reptiles of the same species, the result of which 

 appears doubtful. In some instances the bitten animal experienced 

 no kind of injury, while to others the bite proved fatal. 



The poison, as in all the species of this order, is a semi-transpa- 

 rent yellowish fluid, resembling olive oil. The symptoms appear 

 to be in all respects the same as follow from that of the Rattle- 

 snake, already detailed, and terminates in most cases in death. 



The treatment to be adopted for the bite of the Cobra di Capello 

 must be pretty similar to that which has been advised for the bite 

 of the Rattle-snake and the vipers ; viz. preventing the absorp- 

 tion of the poison into the system, employing powerful diaphoretics 

 and stimulants at the same time, to counteract or alleviate the 

 effects that arise from it. In India the Tanjore pill, the basis of 

 which is arsenic, has been long celebrated for the cure of the bite 

 of the Naja and other venomous serpents. These pills are said to 

 consist of arsenic combined with pepper, mercury, and the juice 

 of the Asclepicis gigantea. Van Rheede, in his Hortus Malabaricus, 

 mentions the nux vomica as a preventive of the effects of the bite 

 of the Naja. Kcempfer highly extols the root of the Ophiorrhiza 

 Mimgos, and in Ceylon it is still employed as an antidote against 

 the bite of the mad dog. 



NAJA HAJE. — The Hafe, Asp, or Aspic. 



Spec. Char. Body olive-brown, variegated with white ; 

 abdomen whitish, with blackish spots ; neck capable of 

 inflation ; length five to six feet. 



