40 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. I. 
Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras 
Effusae toto comprendit guttura morsu 
Letiferam eitra saniem ; tunc irrita pestis 
Exprimitur, faucesque fiuunt pereunte veneuo." 
Pharsalia, lib. iv. v. 729. 
The mystery of the mongoos and its antidote has 
been referred to the supposition that there may be some 
peculiarity in its organisation which renders it 'proof 
against the poison of the serpent. It remains for fu- 
ture investigation to determine how far this conjecture 
is founded in truth ; and whether in the blood of the 
mongoos there exists any element or quality which acts 
as a prophylactic. Such exceptional provisions are not 
without precedent in the animal ceconomy : the hornbill 
feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the strych- 
nos ; the milky juice of some species of euphorbia, 
which is harmless to oxen, is invariably fatal to the 
zebra; and the tsetse fly, the pest of South Africa, 
whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse, 
is harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the 
forest. 1 
The Singhalese distinguish one species of mongoos, 
which they designate " Hotambeya" and which they 
assert never preys upon serpents. A writer in the 
Ceylon Miscellany mentions, that they are often to be 
seen " crossing rivers and frequently mud-brooks near 
Chi] aw ; the adjacent thickets affording them shelter, 
and their food consisting of aquatic reptiles, crabs, and 
mollusca." 2 
1 Dr. Livingstone, Tour in 8. or mouse-cat of Behar, which preys 
Africa, p. 80. Is it a fact that, in upon birds and fish. Can it be the 
America, pigs extirpate the rattle- Urva of the Nepalese (TJrva can- 
snakes with impunity ? crivora, Hodgson), which Mr. Hodg- 
2 This is possibly the "musbilai" son describes as dwelling in bur- 
