342 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

cage, which showed no terror of the snake, and the snake took
no notice of the rat; the gentleman, after watching them for
the whole evening, went to bed, and when he inspected the
cage the next morning, the snake was dead, and the muscular
part of its back eaten by the rat.”’

The rattle consists of a number of horny joints which when
shaken produce the sound by which it is known, and which
gives notice of the proximity of the snake.

oeeaee ‘‘The black snake of Central America,’’ says
Snakeandthe Mr. Byam, ‘‘ isa deadly enemy to the rattlesnake ;
Rattlesnake. it is next in size to the boa, but much more agile ;
very vicious and ill-tempered, but not poisonous ; it measures
from nine to ten feet, and whenever they meet a pitched battle
ensues, which, if tolerably equal in size, ends in favour of the
black:snake. It is not known whether they bite each other,
but, at all events, the poison of the venomous serpent has no
effect upon his adversary, although a rattlesnake bit itself one
day, and died of the wound. A black and a rattlesnake were
each descending opposite banks to drink ata stream a yard
broad ; the black fellow sprang over the stream, and they in-
stantly joined in conflict. They twined together, and the
black snake had evidently most muscular power, so that in
half an hour the rattlesnake was dead, and the black snake
swallowed him, gliding into the thicket, double the size he
was when he came out of it.’’

The Cobra. | The Cobra is one of the most venomous of the
snakes of the East. It is common all over India and Ceylon
and the Islands of the Archipelago. It attains to a length of
five or six feet, and feeds on birds, small animals, lizards, frogs,
toads, and fishes, in the pursuit of which it will ascend trees
and swim the sea. Notwithstanding its dangerous character,
the Cobra is the chosen subject of the Indian snake-charmer,
who keeps it in a basket, until the time for the performance
and then allows it to creep out to the sounds of a native fife,
upon hearing which the Cobra immediately expands its beauti-