500 
Reptile 
THE HOODED SERPENT, OR COBRA DI 
CAPELLO, (Naja tripudians,) 
Called by the Indians the Nagao, is from three to 
eight feet long, with two long fangs in the npper jaw. 
Tt has a broad neck, and a mark of dark brown on the 
forehead ; which, when viewed frontwise, looks like a 
pair of spectacles ; but behind, like the head of a cat. 
The eyes are fierce and full of fire ; the head is small, 
and the nose flat, though covered with very large scales, 
of a yellowish ash-colour : the skin is white, and the 
large tumour on the neck is flat and covered with oblong 
smooth scales. This serpent is extremely dreaded by 
the British residents in India, as its bite has hitherto 
been found to be incurable, and the sufferer generally 
dies in half an hour. 
