Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1867-01-15
between an Ichneumon and a
Cobra.

In letter to the Madras Times, dated Tri-
chinoroly, signed by three officers of the In
dian service, VIC find the following interest
ing account of fight between mongoOse or
iehneumon, and cobra -
We think the long vexed question, whether
the momgoose, on>being bitten by the cobra,
retires into the jungle and finds some herb
ASIAN antidotc for the poison, or whether the
venom of the serpent produces no effect upon
the animal, has been at last settled On SAT-,
urday last, while seated in the mess house
with several officers of the regiment, serv-
ant canle-and stated TINT snake had been
seen to enter hole in the ground close to
where the guard was. We Immediately sent
for mongoose Ga tame ono, and the property
of an oficer,) and put him to the hole.
He soon began to scratch away the earth,
and in half an hour fine cobra, about yard
long, came forward with head erect and hood
distended, to attack the mongoose, who seems
ed to care nothing for the reptile, but merely
jumped out of the way to avoid the Blows
which the snake struck ut Linn. The mon
goose, unfortunately, had just fed, conse-
quently did not'shOw sufficient inclination to
go at him; so We secured the snake and car
ried him over to one of the officers to have
the contest carried on there, after the mon
over his breakfast. After couple of hours
rest, We placed the cobra in a room with
closed door, the mongoose was let in, and the
fight commenced.
The mougoose approached the cobra with
caution, but deyoi'tof any appearance ot fear
- IRA, With head erect and body vibra-
ting, watched his opponent with evident
signs of being aware how deadly an enemy
he had to deal with. The mongoose was soon
within easy striking distance of the snake,
:, who, suddenly throwing back hi \ struck
at the mongoose with tremendOtn The
mongoose quick as thought, sprung back out
of reach, uttering at the same time savage
growki Again the hooded reptile rose on
the defensive, and the mongoose, nothing
daunted by the diStended jaws and gIaring
eyes of his antagonist, approached so near to
the snake that lie forced, not relishing
such close proximity. to draw his head back
considerably. This lcssencd good deal his
distance from the ground. The mongoose,
at once seeing the advantageous opportunity,
: sorang at the cobra's head, and appeared to
infict as we'll as receive a wound. Again
the combatants put themselves in a position
to renew the encounter; again the snake
struck at his willy opponent, and again the lat
ter's agility saved him.
The fight lasted some three: quarters of an
themselves for final encounter. The cobra,
changing his position of defence for that of
attack, seemed determined now to do or die.
Slowly on his watchful enemy the cobra ad-
yanced with equal courage the mongoose
awaited the advance of bis still unvanquishcd
foe. The, cobra had now approached so close
that the moTgOoSe, owing to want OF space be-
hind, was unable to spring out of reach by
jumping backward as he had done in the previ>
~. Gus encounters, nimbly bounded straight up
nsthe air. Inc. cobra missed his object, and
struck the ground under hiH.
Immediately on the mouE oose alighting, the
cobra, quick as thought, strs:k again, and to
all appearance fixedtns4Sngs IN tLss% Helu VI me
mongoose. The-mons6oSe, as the cetIUL "a. was
withdrawing his head after having lnrSSicteu
the bite, instantly retallated by hxlnS-N ms
teeth in the headof the cobra. This seemeo'
to convince the cobra that he no match
for his watchful antagonist, and now no longer
exhibiting a head erect and defiant eye, I'M
folded his coil and ANONYMOUSLY skunk away.
Instantly the moBgoosc was on the retreat
ing foe, and buryiDg his teeth in his BRAN at
once ended the contest. The morgoOse now
set to work to devour his victim, and In
few minutes had eaten the head and two or
three inches of the body, including the VEN
ON so dreaded by all. We should have men
= toned before, Inat, previous 10 LHlS eucOuu-
ter the snake had struck an owl. which died
within half an hohr of the infection of the
bite, showing beyond doubt its capability of
inflicting death wound.
After the moDgoose had satisfied his appe-
tite, we proceeded to examine with pocket
lens the wounds which he received from the
cobra, and in washing away the blood from
one of these places, the lens discovered the
broken fang of the cobra, mbedded in the
head of the mongoose. To discover whether
there was any truth in the assertion Tat, the
mong,ose owes its impurity from the bite of
the most venomous serpents to its knowledge
of an herb which is an antidote to poison, or
whether, on the other hand, a prophylatic ex-
lists in the blood of this extraordinary animal,
rendering it inocuous to the bite of reptile
fatal to all other animals, we have had the
mongoose confined ever since (now four days
ago. ) and it is now as healthy and as lively as
ever We consider, therefore, that there no
longer exists doubt that in the blood of the
1nongoose there is prophylatic, and that the
idea that it derives its impunity from an herb
is enc of many popular errors.
WoMEN's REAL R1GHrs.-An act has
h., h. Noo.n:o