The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-03-26
THE COBRA STONE.
1t Affords tho Greedy Reptile an Easy
Means OF Getting Its Living.

1t Affords the Greedy Reptile an Easy
Means OF Getting Its Living.
The cobras are perhaps the only SER
penis which will eat insects. They
feed on ants, grasshoppers, a variety OF
beetles, ETC., but seem to have special
preference for fre-fies, perhaps because
the latter can be caught at night much
more easily than any other kind OF in
sect. have often for hours watched CO.
bras in the grass catching the fire-fies,
darling about here and there, a process
which requires considerable exertion on
the part Of the serpent Now, every
entomologist knows that the flying
lampyrid@ consist entirely Of males.
The females, which are not very numer-
Gus, are much larger and can not fly, as
they have only rudimentary wings.
They sit quietly in the grass, emitting
greenish light, which is much strong
er than that of the males, and fades and
becomes brilliant at regular intervals.
If glow-worm be watched for time,
steady current of male insects will be
observed flying toward it, and alighting
in close proximity.
Now it so happens that the naja-kallu,
this little pebble of chlorophane Of -four
spar, emits in the dark greenish light
which is so much like that of the female
lampyris that it is an easy matter to de-
ceive the male FREELY with it, by setting
it up as decoy. The cobras have grad
ually come to take advantage Of an ex-
perience made by them, accidentally. l
dare say, thousands Of years ago. 1t
may frequently happen, for instance,
that cobra finds one Of these shining
stones in tn gravel Of the dry river
beds (where they are by no means un-
common), being attracted to it by its
glow at night, and taking it for glow
worm. 1t would then, at any rate,
notice that the fire-flies could be caught
much more easily and quickly in the
neighborhood of that shining object
than anywhere else, and would habit
ually return toit. Several cobras might
thus come together, and there would be
competition, and from this moment to
the finding out that success in capturing
fire-flies depends on the possession of
this phosphorescent pebble, and to the
selling of it in order to prevent another
snake from monopolizing it, is, in my
opinion, no great step, and involves no
exceptional powers of reasoning. The
cobra carries it about, and soon learns to
treasure it, for it affords it an easy
MEANS of getting its living. All it has
to do is to deposit the stone in the grass
at night, and the obliging insects liter
ally fly down its throat.
There are even reasons for believing
that no individual experience is now
necessary to cause any cobra to act in
this manner, but that even q young
cobra, on finding such . stone, will in
stinctively take it up and use it in the
manner I have described. For it must
be borne in mind that there is an inner
tied race memory among the lower ami
mails which is often far stronger than
the memory gathered during the short
lifetime Of the individual. What causes
blind kitten to spit and put up its
back If dog is brought near it? 1t
never saw dog, never saw any thing,
yet 1t knows there is some danger ahead.
Thus the accumulated experience Of the
cobra's ancestors during countless gen.
erations now causes it to act in man.
ner which we refer to instinct
Such are the remarkable facts con-
nected with the naja-kallu, the cobra's
shining stone. Who can tell whether
the old traditions of snakes carrying
precious stones, of which we still find
traces in our fairy tales, may not have
their source in some such facts as this?
Prof. H. Hensoldt, Phi. D., in Harper's
Magazine.