Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-07-22
London Telegraph
An l8 Inch Death.
The ~ Oct Malign N ant and Deadly Crea-
Gu re In the ~ a rid

4 recent arrival at the geological society ;
gardens IN Regents park deserves special
notice, apart from the fact that it is the first
Of its species known 10 have been brought
to England. 1t is a snake, called the echis
cdrindtd, about foot and half long. and
a dingy gray. Yet, although in appearance
neither interesting nor formidable il is the
deadliest of created things. This detestable
little worm, which, looking at II, the specta-
Tor might make bold to say he could Initiate
very passably in cork and putty, is, never
theless, one of the miracles and masterpieces
OF nature, for II is death itself, and carries
in It's tiny head the secret of destroying life
with the sudden rapidity of lightning and
the concentrated agony of all poisons The
echis comes to US from India, where it is tol-
erably common, being found in nearly every
part of the peninsula and feared wherever
found as the incarnation OF instant and ter
rible destruction. Fortunately. however, for
man, it is not, like the cobra and the korait,
a house -frequenting snake; for ts tiny size
would give it a terrible advantage over hu-
man beings who live crowded together as the
natives of India do, in small darkened rooms,
while its aggressive habits would make it in
initely more fatal TO life than It's dreaded
relatives. For this king of the asps, this
modern basllisk, is not only venomous be-
yond conception, but is actively offensive. 1t
does not turn to escape from man, the
cobra will, or fash into concealment, like the
koralt, but conscious, perhaps, Of its deadli-
ness. deliberately keeps the path against its
human assailant, and, putting its own Is
inches Of length against his bulk, challenges
and prov okes the conflict. A stroke with a
whip will cut it in two, or a clod of earth
disable it; but such is its malignity that it
will invite attack by every device at its COM
mand stalking its own life on the mere chance
Of its adversary coming within the circle of
its power. At most. the radius Of this circle
is II inches, but within it, at any point, lies
certain death, and on the bare hope of hand
or foot tres2assing within its reach, the echis
throws its body into figure of eight coil.
and attracting attention by rubbing its loops
together, which from the roughness of the
scales-hence the epithet caripata-makes
a rus,ling, Kissing sound, ,erects its head and
awaits attack, No one having once encoun-
tered this terrible worm can ever forget its
truculent aspect when thus aroused, its ca
ger aggressive air, its restless coils, which in
constant motion one over the other and are
rustling ominously all the while, stealthilv
but surely bringing it nearer and nearer to
the object of its fury; the eye malignant even
beyond those Of other vipers, and then the
mconceivable rapidity Of its stroke. For the
echis does not want to strike until it is with
in striking distance, hut vents its malice in
repeatedly darting at nothing, hoping, per.
haps, to aggravate its antagonist into com
ing into closer quarters, or, more probably,
a. mere expression Of its own incontrolla-
bic viciousness.