Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-05-23
engaged to don't mind it either, for il
saves him that much money toward 60
ing to housekeeping" -Pich- Me-Up.
The Cobra Stone.

1 Aux W. OuSOhOOfAhH - wv uS ~
The Cobra Stone.
There is a curious story current
throughout India to the effect that some
cobras, perhaps one in twenty, are in
possession of q precious stone which
shines in the dark. This stone, accord
ing to the natives, the snake is in the
habit Of carrying about in its mouth.
regarding it as a treasure, and defend
ing it with its life. At night the cobra
deposits the stone in the grass and
watches it, as if fascinated, for hours,
but woe to him who then approaches,
for the cobra is never more dangerous
than when occupied in this manner
Finding that some of my Ceylon
friends credited this superstition, as [
then regarded it, writes Prof. H. Hem
soldt, in Harpe,'s Magazine, I de-
termined, if possible, to solve the mys-
terry.
[ offered five rupees to any coolie on
the estate, who would bring me one of
these cobra stones, and one evening q
Tamil came in hastily, to say that he
would show me the snake and it's stone
if ! would follow him.
Without delay 1 went with him to a
little waterfall, distant Owe q mile from
the house. Close to the waters edge
stood a immense tamarind tree. and
within fifty yards of it the coolie halted,
and mysteriously pointed to the root of
the tree. There the naia was to be
found, but my guide refused to go an
inch farther. As [ could see nothing
from where I stood, I slowly and eau
tiously approached the tree, until, at
about fifteen yards distance from it, I
stood as if rooted to the spot.
A foot from the trunk, / observed in
the grass a greenish light, apparently
proceeding from a single point. After
a time 1 could see the cobra coiled near
the foot Of the tree, slowly swaying it's
head to and fro in front of the shining
object. Save that this shining light
was steady and not intermittent, I
might at first have thought it due to the
female Of the well-known FREELY, for the
air was swarming with these insects.
Unfortunately, I had no gun, and my
guide, who seemed to feel that he was
responsible for my safety, entreated me
so earnestly to let the snake alone, that
I acceded. Moreover, he promised to
bring me this stone within three days,
for he said that the cobra, if not mo-
Tested, would return to the same spot
night after night.
The coolie kept his word, for the
second morning afterward he brought
me the stone. He had climbed the
tamarind tree before dark, and after the
snake had taken up it's position he had
emptied a bag Of ashes upon the stone.
The frightened reptile, after chasing
about for a while trying to find its
treasure, had gone off. The coolie re-
manned in his safe position until day.
light, when he descended the tree, dug
the stone out of the ashes, and here It
was in my hand.
'Ihe cobra stone was a semi-trans-
parent, water-worn pebble Of yellowish
color about the size of a large pea.
which in the dark, when previously
warmed, emitted q greenish, phospho.
resent light. I found it to be chloro-
plane, a rare variety of 1uor-spar.
The mystery is not difficult to ey-
plain. Cobras feed on insects, and
seem to have a special liking for fire
flies. Ihave often for hours watched
the snake in the grass catching the fire
flies, darling about here and there, q
process which requires considerable
exertion. Only the male hrehies fly
about, and a close observer will notice
that a constant swarm of the male in
sects will fly neal the females, which
sit on the ground and emit the mtermit-
tent glowing light.
The cobra uses his ~phosphorescent
stone as q decoy for the tiretiies. No
doubt the snake made the discovery by
accident, night after night. perhaps,
noticing how the t~irefiies gathered
about the shining pebble. Several
snakes gathered, and it would require
no great reasoning powers for the cobra
to learn that the position of advantage
was that nearest the pebble. Competi-
ton would lead to the snakes Selling
and carrying off the treasure, and habit
has become hereditary.