2 
DESCRIPTION OF 
In the exhibition of serpents, by way of show, by strollers in India who travel 
round the country, the Cobra de Capello makes a conspicuous figure, and, so far as I 
know, is the only serpent they pretend to charm by music. It is indeed the only 
venomous serpent I ever remarked in their collections, though sometimes consisting of 
more than a dozen of different species. 
These itinerants are usually provided with pretended antidotes against poison, which 
they vend to the spectators ; and, in proof of their boasted efficacy, will allow themselves 
to be bitten : but in such case, the fangs of the Cobra have commonly been eradicated, 
and where blood is drawn, the wound has been made by the common teeth, or 
holders. 
The showman, placed on the ground, sits squatted on his hams, holding a reeden 
pipe in his left hand, which he begins to sound as soon as he has taken off the cover of 
the round flat basket, in which the serpent lies coiled up. At the sound of the pipe, or 
when less alert, excited by the touch of a small rod, the Cobra raising his head, assumes 
by degrees the attitude in which he is represented in the Plate. Sometimes he is 
shaken out of the basket, which makes no difference in his subsequent movements. 
The serpent being erect, the showman commences what is called the dance, by a 
slow movement of his body sidewise to right and left alternately ; varying the measure 
to the cadence of his music, and sometimes rising and sinking on his hams. The 
serpent, with eyes intently fixed on its master, imitates his gestures, but watches 
particularly his right hand, which, shielded by the lid of the basket, or sometimes 
naked and clinched, is now and then advanced in a hostile manner, to provoke the 
serpent to snap. The movements of the serpent are not devoid of grace, and afford 
some amusement ; but being unable to sustain the exercise beyond a short time, it 
becomes necessary, when the exhibition is prolonged, to produce a fresh performer. 
It need hardly be remarked, that the music of the pipe has no influence on a Cobra 
in its wild state. He is trained for exhibition by a course of severe discipline, of which 
a circumstantial account has long since been given by Kempfer.* 
That bad accidents from the bite of the mutilated snakes commonly exhibited to 
the public, should not be oftener heard of, has been remarked on another occasion, 
as surprising.* But, though rare, they sometimes happen, and may easily be 
accounted for. 
In the Account of Coromandel Serpents, more than a score of the hooded snakes, 
under different appellations, are mentioned as having been examined without discover- 
ing any specific character of distinction, or difference in the malignity of their poison. 
Since my return, however, from India, I have heard of a small Cobra de Capello, found 
in the vicinity of Benares, which seems, from the description, to be specifically 
different from any known on the coast of Coromandel ; but a specimen being expected, 
a further account is reserved for a future occasion. 
* Amoenitates Exotics, p. 5 69. 
t Account of Coromandel Serpents, p. 8S. 
