100 
SPITTING COBRA 
by a cobra which I had slightly wounded ; this did not attempt 
to spit and I luckily shot it before it struck, it was over 7 
feet long. While clearing the site for Kisumu township many 
cobras were killed by the workmen and one man was bitten 
and died ; I never heard of any of them spitting, the longest 
I saw was between 7 and 8 feet. 
The cobras in this country are popularly called mamba, 
a name, I believe, imported from South Africa, and are divided 
into two classes — black mambas and green mambas. It will, 
however, probably be found that most of the black mambas 
are of three species, viz. : Naja hajce, Naja melanoleuca and 
Naja nigricollis, the latter being the spitting species. 
As for the green mamba I can find no record of a green 
cobra, and this snake which is said to have a great preference 
for trees is probably not a cobra at all, but a green viper closely 
allied to that of the Nile Valley which is called Causus resimus 
and is very poisonous. The Soudan species, however, is said 
to be only about 2 feet 6 inches, whereas the green mamba 
is said to reach 5 feet in length. 
It may be of some use to collectors to be able readily to 
distinguish a snake of the cobra group from one of the viper 
group and to which the puff adders belong. The poison fangs 
of a cobra are grooved along their front edge and the poison 
runs down this groove into the wound. In the vipers, however, 
the poison fang is hollow and the poison issues from a tiny 
hole near the point of the tooth. 
Mr. F. J. Jackson tells me that he believes he has identified 
five species of the large poisonous snakes and classifies them 
as follows : — 
(1) Shiny black ‘ Mamba 5 with a yellow throat, length 
about six feet. He is inclined to believe that this 
is not a cobra as he has never seen it dilate its neck 
into the typical hood. 
(2) Dull black cobra, le gth 6 feet to 10 feet. 
Note : This is probably Naja melanoleuca , which 
is the larges' of the African cobras. 
(8) Earthy grey cobra, length 5 feet. 
Note : Probably Naja hajce. 
