Chap. IX.] 



SNAKES. 



301 



brilliancy as to surpass all known jewels. This in- 

 estimable stone is called the ndga-mdnik-kya ; but not 

 one snake in thousands is supposed to possess such 

 a treasure. The cobra, before eating, is believed to 

 cast it up and conceal it for the moment; else its 

 splendour, like a flambeau, would attract all beholders. 

 The tales of the peasantry, in relation to it, all turn 

 upon the devices of those in search of the gem, and 

 the vigilance and cunning of the cobra by which 

 they are baffled; the reptile itself being more en- 

 amoured of the priceless jewel than even its most 

 ardent pursuers. 



In Bennett's account of 66 Ceylon and its Capa- 

 bilities" there is another curious piece of Singhalese 

 folk-lore, to the effect, that the cobra de capello every 

 time it expends its poison loses a joint of its tail, and 

 eventually acquires a head resembling that of a toad. 

 A recent addition to zoological knowledge has thrown 

 light on the origin of this popular fallacy. The family 

 of 66 false snakes " (pseudo typhlops, as Schlegel names 

 the group) have till lately consisted of but three species, 

 of which only one was known to inhabit Ceylon. They 

 belong to a family intermediate between the serpents 

 and that Saurian group commonly called Slow-worms or 

 Class-snakes ; they in fact represent the slow-worms of 

 the temperate regions in Ceylon. They have the body 

 of a snake, but the cleft of their mouth is very narrow, 

 and they are unable to detach the lateral parts of the 

 lower jaw from each other, as the true snakes do when 

 devouring a prey. The most striking character of the 

 group, however, is the size and form of the tail ; this 

 is very short, and according to the observations of 



