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

him, but within a little moro than
twenty minutes from the time the
snake bit him the dog lay dead on
the floor. In this instance l do not
think more than two seconds elapsed
after the bite was given before injured
flesh was swept out. The result coll
veys some idea of the rapidity with
which the poison acts. The dog ex-
hibited no indications of suffering.
And in this respect the poison Of the
cobra is different from that Of other
venomous reptiles, and especially
from that of the rattlesnake. The
bite Of the latter snake convulses the
victim with pain, but the wound in
flicted by the cobra causes q perfect
ly painless death. The doomed per-
sons sinks gradually into q calm deep
sleep, against which no resistance can
he made, and from which there is M
awakening.
III remember once being called by
lpy servant to look at his wife, who,
y said, had died in the night. That
tho woman was really dead there
was no doubt; but what she had died
Of was o problem. She had been a
large, strong woman, apparently in
perfect health, when she returned
home the preceding night she made
no complaint Of feeling i'll. She was
very drowsy, however, and as soon as
she lay down fell asleep. This gave
clue to the cause of her death, and a
subsequent examination discovered
two small punctures close together On
the call of the leg. She had been
bitten by cobra in the night, while
walking carelcssly through the long
grass, and, probably supposing that a
bramble had stung her, she went
home without dreaming that she had
receive fatal wound.
"But though the vigorous cobras,
when they bite, always in6ict fatal
wounds, there is certainly some
means by which they can be rendered
harmless. l do not mean by pulling
out the poisonous fangs, for that
would probably kill the snake, or in
any event, if done by jugglers, it
would be likely to be detected. l
should think, however, that they
might enrage the cobra, and force
it to strike three or four times at 4
dog or some other animal. This
would exhaust the poison, and until
it was renewed the reptile would be
harmless. In its entirely wild state,
however, the cobra seems always to
have supply Of venom in reserve.
At least have never heard of any
one being bitten by one of these crea-
lures in the field and recovering.
But once, while l and two of my
friends were sitting on the veranda of
our bungalow, in Allahabad, a Jug
gler was announced. He was q
harsh featured old man, and his whole
stock in trade consisted Of q heavy
canvass which seemed to be empty.
At all events he turned it inside out,
and shook it, and allowed " to ex-
anime it. Then he threw it upon the
ground and did not touch it any more
until the exhibition was over. We,
however, looked into it again, and
walked over it, and satisfied our
selves generally that there was moth
ing inside of it. Then the juggler
squatted down half u dozen yards
away and began to wave his wand at
the bag, and muttered spells and in
carnations. Soon We were startled
by seeing the canvas culver, and then
undulate in a more decided manner.
Then the mouth was pushed open,
and Sn immense cobra glided out.
1t had the appearance Of wild
snake, excited to the utmost pitch Of
ferocity, and it worked its way rapid
ly along the veranda, its hood erect,
the spectacle encircling its eyes, and
its tongue darting quickly in and out,
we all thought we should obtain a
better view Of the reptile by climb
ing upon a table. We got up there as
quickly as possible, and the juggler
seized the snake around the neck and
held it close to his face. In another
moment the cobra's fangs were buried
in the mans forehead. But this did
not seem to disturb the man in the
least. With the blood streaming
down his face, he grasped the snake
tightly, forced open its mouth with
slender piece of stick, and showed us
that the poisonous fang was still
there, for he raised it up and pushed
it down with the little stick. Then
he put the serpent back into the bag,
where it writhed for a few minutes
and then lay still. When we looked
in it was not there, and We rubbed
our eyes, and thought we had taken
more brandy and soda than was good
for us. But there on the mans fore
head were the two little holes, the
unmistable marks of q cobra's bite.
They were already changed from a
red to a livid hue, and there seemed
to be but little time to he lost if the
juggler's life was to be saved. Taking
a lite pod like coffee been, from
his pocket, he placed it upon the
wound on his forehead, where it
stuck fast. The flood of blood was
soon stopped, and the man having re-
ceived his reward, made his bow,
and walked away with what seemed
an empty bag under his arm. Since
that time have seen many jugglers
bitten by cobras apparently without
evil result.