Dr. Russell and Mr. Home on the Expansion , &c. 347 
middle of the trunk, nearly as long as the middle cervical ribs ; 
and then declining, as usual in other serpents, disappear on the 
tail. 
So obvious a peculiarity in the skeleton of the Cobra de Capello 
having escaped my notice in India, and finding myself unable to 
account for the expansion of its hood, which is commonly, in 
that country, conceived to be connected with inspiration, I 
brought with me, on my return to England, several subjects for 
dissection, in order to have the matter properly ascertained. My 
friend Mr. Home readily undertook the task; and the subjoined 
result of his investigation will, I have no doubt, prove satisfactory. 
I have, on another occasion, asserted as a fact, that the neck 
of the Cobra de Capello, in a quiescent state, shows no external 
protuberance whatever ; * and it is clearly accounted for, in the 
following description, from the ribs, when depressed, lying upon 
the spine, over one another. 
Mr. Home’s Description. 
The mechanism by which the Cobra de Capello, when irritated 
and ready to seize its prey, expands the skin of the neck, giving it 
the appearance from which the snake takes its name, consists 
intirely of muscles, acting upon the ribs and external skin of the 
animal. 
From the rounded form of the hood, the skin has the appear- 
ance of being inflated ; but the most careful examination did not 
discover any communication between the trachea, or the lungs, 
and the cellular membrane under the skin. 
In this snake, the ribs nearest the head, to the number of 
twenty on each side, have a different shape from the rest ; instead 
* Continuation of an Account of Indian Serpents, page 3. Lond. 1801. 
