Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-09-20

Take them for their real value,
Pass them by, and "never mind"
@ Fate may threaten, clouds may lower,
Enemies may be combined;
If your trust in God ID. steadfast,
He will save you "never mind"
THE COBRA.
1--WE have in India" said q gentle
man, much of whose early life was
passed in Hidostan, "snakes more
venomous than are to be found in the
Western hemisphere, or even in
Africa. The most deadly serpent in
this country is, suppose the rattle
snake, but hundreds of persons have
been bitten by it and have recovered.
For the bite of a cobra in full vigor,
however, there is no cure. lmmedi-
ately after the rainy season the cobra
is in his worst form. He lies dormant
while torrents of rain that seem like
the renewal of the flood are deluging
the earth, rarely coming out of the
deep hole in which he finds shelter,
and all that time the poison is accumu-
lating, until the bag at the root of the
hollow fang is filed to bursting. The
cobra has but one poisonous fang,
and when he is undisturbed and not
angry this lies fiat on the jaw. But
the moment an enemy appears the as
pect of tho cobra changes. He as
sumes an almost perpendicular posi-
ton, which is the only one from
which he can strike. His tail is
thrown into the form of ring, and
on this he stands erect. His head is
bent forward, and he makes figure
like that of IN old fashioned walking
stick with q crook for a handle. A
flesl,y hood rises along tho back Of
the neck, an expands into u fanlike
shape behind the head, while around
his flashing eyes appear bright yellow
rings, looking like spectac(es. Seen
thus, his tongue darling in and out,
he is about as repugnant a creature
as exists. When in a position for
striking he can spring probably about
ten feet; but he is easily killed. He
never runs away. and though he will
not move toward an enemy to get
within springing distance, if the in
truder approaches him he does not re-
treat, and it is only necessary to
stand about twenty feet away and
hurl stick Mt min. A slight blow
will break his neck, and he is then
powerless.
"Probably the greatest experiment
tor upon snakes that ever lived was
DR.. Fayrcr, of Calcutta. He was
particularly interested in the discov-
cry Of a cure for the bite Of the
cobra, for the number Of lives lost by
this cause every year in India is in
credible. After years of careful study,
and after he had exhausted recipes
sent to him from all parts Of the
world, he declared that there was no
known remedy for the bite, and that
man impregnated with the poison
Of a vigorous cobra must die. In the
course Of his experiments he made a
singular discovery, that the poison Of
one cobra could not kill another. A
large cobra would destroy a smaller
one, but only by decorating it with
its teeth, not by means of its venom.
"Once stood with DR.. Fayrer in
his study when he was about to make
an experiment to determine the ra-
pidity with which cObra's poison
would do it's work. In the middle of
the room was q wooden box contain
ing a four-foot cobra, which had been
confined there three days without
foot, and was in horrible state of
rage, and stocked with venom. Not
far from the door of the box was a
large dog, Of greater strength and
vitality than an average man. He
was chained, and nearly all of the
hair was shaved off from one Of his
hind legs. At q signal from the doc
tor an assistant pulled string, the
door of the box rose, and the cobra,
with a string tied around his tail,
glided out like a streak of light.
The unfortunate dog had been watch
ing the box for some minutes, and
giving vent to his uneasiness by
q low, whining noise. The moment
he saw the snakes coming out he was
thrown into an agony of terror, as is
nearly every animal when he sees a
cobra, albeit he never set eyes Oh a
cobra before. Everybody in the room
stood rs far away from the snake as
possible, the assistant holding the
string that was attached to the rep
tiles tail in a second the cobra had
fastened its eyes upon the dog, which
was tue OOJect nearest to 1t, and arlS-
ing upon its tail it assumed it's horri-
BILE position ofattack. Then launch
ing its body like lightning through
the intervening space, it fastened its
fangs fairly into the center oftle bare,
conspicuous spot upon the dogs flank.
Instantly the assistant pulled the
string and dragged the writhing rep
tile from its hold, and DR.. Fayrer
seized the injured part of the dogs
leg between the thumb and first fin
ger OF the left hand and with a clean,
swift sweep of his scalpel cut it out to
the bone. Remedies were at once an
piled to stop the bleeding, and stimu-
iants were given, but in q few minu-
ties the dog began to exhibit those
symptoms of drowsiness that ALWAYS
precede death from the bite of a co
bra Every af1nrf WOO mn IL -.