258 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the soma down you can instantly take it up and bear it away." 

 *'* Then, oviparous one," replied Indra, well pleased, " accept from 

 from me any boon you wish." Thus addressed Garuda, recollect- 

 ing the sons of Kadru, and the enslaving of his mother by their 

 deception, prayed " Indra, let the mighty Snakes be my food." 

 And so it is to this day, for almost at any hour you can see 

 Garuda (the Brahminy Kite) swoop to earth and again rise, 

 hearing aloft a writhing Snake in its talons. Thus is the enmity 

 between the two eternal. 



Garuda flew to his mother with the good news, and gladly 

 addressed the Snakes : " Here have I brought the nectar, and I 

 shall place it on the sacred grass (kusa). After performing 

 your ablutions and religious rites, drink ye it, but first of all, as 

 ye promised, let my mother become free from this time hence- 

 forth." " Be it so," answered the Snakes, as they departed. 

 Meanwhile, Indra, seizing the amritha, returned with it to 

 heaven. The Snakes soon came crowding together in great 

 joy to drink the soma, but found only the grass upon which it 

 had been placed, and in licking this the stout stems of kusa 

 split their tongues in twain. 



Among living snakes the Tree-Snake (Dendrophis pictus), 

 though harmless, is believed to be very poisonous. After biting 

 a person it climbs the nearest palm, and on the top wait3 till it 

 sees the smoke arising from the funeral pyre of its victim. 

 Only after being so completely satisfied will it descend to the 

 ground once more. This belief is so engrained in the native 

 mind that the Tamils, whenever this Snake bites a man, actually 

 make a mock funeral pyre by setting light to some straw, so 

 that the Snake from its lofty position may see the smoke arising. 

 The Snake, thus deceived, is said then to descend at once, and 

 as it climbs down the palm the pain is believed to lessen in the 

 body of the sufferer and the poison gradually to depart. 



Another green Tree- Snake (Dryophis mycterizans) is also 

 harmless, but has the peculiar habit of striking at a person's 

 -eyes. It is very important, because of a curious belief that any 

 woman who is a bad cook, by touching it, will cook well ever 

 after. A student bringing a dead one to college counted twenty 

 women who came forward and touched it as he passed, in 

 order that their cooking in future might be an assured success. 



