Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-05-24
MEMORY OF SNAKES.
The Shining Stone which the Cobra Car
ries to Attract Firefiies.

The Shining Stone which the Cobra Car
ries to Attract Firefiies.
The cobras are perhaps the only ser
penis which will eat insects. They feed
IN ants, grasshoppers, variety of bee
lies, etc. but seem to have a special pref
erence for fireflies, perhaps because the
latter can be caught at night much more
easily than any other kind of insect. |
have often for hours watched cobras in
the grass catching the frefiies, darling
about here and there, process which
requires considerable exertion on the
part of the serpent. Now, every en-
tomologist knows that the flying lam
pyride consists entirely of males. The
females, which are not very numerous,
are much larger and cannot fly, as they
have only rudimentary wings. They sit
quietly in the grass, emitting a greenish
light, which is much stronger 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 obsef we'd
flying towards it and alighting in class
proximity.
Now it so happens that the naja-kallu,
this little pebble Of chlorophane OF huor-
spar, emits in the dark a greenish light,
which is so much like that of the femal,
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, |
dare say, thousands of yearsago. tmay
frequently happen, for instance, that
cobra finds one of these shining stones in
the gravel Of dry river beds (where they
are by no means uncommon, being at
tracted to it by its glow at night, and
taking 1t for a glowworm. 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 habitually return TO it. Several
cobras might thus come together, and
there would be competition, and from
this moment to the finding out that sue
cess in capturing firefies depends on the
possession Of this phosphorescent psbble,
and to TIE seizing of it in order to pre-
vent another snake monopolizing it, is,
in my opinion, no great step, and in
wolves no exceptional powers of reason
ing. The cobra carries it about, and
soon learns to treasure it, for it affords
1t an easy means Of getting its living.
All it has to do is TO deposit the stone in
the erase at night, and the obliging in.
sects literally 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 a young CO.
bra, on finding such stone, will in
stinctively take it up and use it in the
manner l have described. For it must
be borne in mind that there is an inherit
ed race memory among the lower ami
mails which is often far stronger than
the memory gathered during the short
life time of the individual. What causes
a blind kitten to spit and put up its back
IL dog is brought near II? II never saw
a dog, never saw anything, yet it knows
there is some danger ahead. Thus the
accumulated experience Of the cobra's
ancestors during countless generations
now causes it to act in a manner which
we refer to instinct.
Such are the remarkable facts con-
nected with the naja-kallu, the cobraa
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 fact as this?-
Professor II. Hensoldt in Harper's.
Madam de Sevigne remarked years
ago that the dahlia would be the queen
Of flowers II 1t only had a perfume.
This was before the rose assembled the
floral throne, where by right and COM
mon consent she wears the crown. A
Frenchman, however, has discovered
that by watering aahlias with tepid
water delicious aroma is secured. Il
"A lady's maid, seeing her mistress
struggling with stamp that would not
stick, took the stamp, rubbed it on the
mucilage on the flap of the envelope,
md put it in its place. 1t was an in
Eenious way out Of common difficulty
we'll worth remembering.
The daily consumption OF oysters at
the Senate restaurant is about twenty |
ave bushels during the oyster season.
Fully the same quantity Is served to
customers in the House restaurant
Friday IA the big day for oysters at the