DESCRIPTION OF I N D I A N SERPENTS.
I n 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.t But, though rare, they sometimes happen, and may easily be
accounted for.
I n the Account of Coromandel Serpents, more than a score of the hooded snakes,
under different appellations, are mentioned as having been examined without discovering
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.
OBSERVATIONS.
I have before had occasion to remark, that the natives on the coast of Coromandel,
distinguish a number of varieties of the Cobra de Capello, by different names ; but that
I had found the distinctive characters extremely vague.*
The mark in the hood of the Coromandel Coodum JYagoo, is indeed very different from
that of the others ; but slight variations, both in shape and colour, are met with in all
of them.
The hood of the Sankoo Nagoo is plain, without any mark. From the specimen
now in the Museum of the late Mr. J o h n Hunter, it appears that Seba was mistaken
in conceiving the want of the spectacle-mark to be a specific character of the female
serpent.+ I am led to repeat this remark on observing that the mistake of Seba
has been adopted by the Count de la Cepede in his Continuation of Buffon's Natural
History .t
Laurentius has made it a distinct species, calling it Naja non Naja.
I n Gmelin's edition of Linnasus, the three following varieties of the Coluber Naja
are adopted from Laurentius, and references made to the figures in Seba's Thesaurus.
1 Naja fasciata Seba Thes. Vol. H. Tab. 89. f. 3.
2 Naja Siamensis, ib. - - - - f. 1, 2.
3 Naja Maculata ib. - Tab. 90. f. 2.
The Naja Brasiliensis of Laurentius, Seba, p. 96. Tab. 80, f 4, is, by Gmelin, made
a new species under the name Rufus.
The figure on the hood of that serpent, is certainly different from the others; but if
sufficient to constitute a distinct species, would not the Coromandel Coodum Nagoo
have the like pretension ?
The two hooded snakes in Seba, the one from Peru, Thes. Vol. II. Tab. 8 5. f. 1, the
other from New Spain, Tab. 9 7. f. 4, are treated of separately by Cepede, on a supposition
that the skin of the neck was not (as in the other species) capable of expansion.
But this can hardly be inferred from the words of Seba, " non huic majus ac cuicunque
vulgari serpente tumet collum." Which may be equally said of all hooded snakes, when
their necks are in a collapsed state.
As to the Cobra from Peru, in Seba, Tab. 8 5. f. 1, a more particular description is
found in Gronovius.^i It has 193 Scuta, and 62 Squamas ; and I should think there is
no ground for suspecting it differs materially from the Cobra de Capello of the East
Indies. The same may be said of Seba's serpent from New Spain, Tab. 9 7. f 4 : by
the way, the description of the mark on the hood of that serpent, (p. 103,) by no means
agrees with the figure referred to.
It appears upon the whole, that the hooded snake is a native of the new, as well as
of the old continent.
* Amcenitates Exotica, p. 5 C9. t Account of Coromandel Serpents, p. 8a.
* Account of Coromandel Serpents, p. 7.
? Histoire Naturelle des Serpens, Tome II. p. S9. Paris i
+ Ibid. p. 9.
^ Zoophylaci