The Lambertville record., 1899-02-22
TREWIN & CO..
Clothiers, Hatters and Furnishers,
LAMBERTvILLE. Nj.
THE COBRA'S FANGS.
PROOF THAT THEY ARE NOT IN
THEMSELVES POISONOUS.

Now tho Reptile strikes and the Eneet
at the nlow Action 1. Magnificent aud
swift rs Lightning rlssh-s,tack Ia
Usually Fatal.
Now, the So-callct poisonous fnugs
are not IN themselves poisonous-that
Is. they are not coated with poison.
horeyen haNethey a capillary tube run.
ming inside along their lengths, through
which The cobra iniects the poison in
10 the wound If that were the ease.
The cobra could not seiZe its food with.
ont injecting IL with the poison. The
real fact Is there Is u fine tube running
from the base Of each Of the two fangs
backward under the ove to an almond
shaped gland or bag. which contains
the poison. This gland is constantly
Sccreting the poison, with small sup.
ply For immediate use. Hence. If the
lube connecting the gland To the base
OF ia" fang were Kept open. the poison
would b. constantly running out into
the mouth of the cobra, and thus vast
ed Ia no purpose. To prevent this n
circular muscle binds the tube some
where about the middle. But when
The cobra strikes its prey. this muscle
is relaxed. and another one squecZes
The poison bag, aia thus iniecis the
poison.
But let us deScrihe The whole pro-
cess of striking, and see what the
robrn does when he means mischief
tie expands his head and reurS nj
least II third of his length in the air,
with the rest of the body coiled in the
form of spiral This spiral form
gives him sufficient anchorage Ia rear
his body 10y sheer muscular effect. and
also the necessary leNcrag, in dealing
the blow, His eyes glistcn like ohel-
lsks, his forkcd tongue darts IN and
out with n low. kissing sound. Sud
denly he throws back his head in n low
curve, and as swiftly darts forward
TO his victim, partly as plunge and
partly as II spring, unfolding a portion
uf his coil to increase his range. Ii
looks aS If the cobra sprnnC into the
air, but, as Il matter of fact, his belly
usually touches The ground at the mo-
inent of striking, in order To afford
him sufficient leverage to imbed his
fangs firmly in the body of the victim,
fhe action is magnificent. and vet
swift as lightning flash. The tongue
IN withdrawn. the mouth wide open.
The iangs fall on the victim as
stab, the lower jaw closing in beneath
rs bite If the blow has been fair
aud square. two small punctures are
made in the flesh of the victim by the
Two fangs: otherwise, il the blow has
been one sided. there will he only one
puncture.
Now, the mere striking of the blow
is not enough. and II the cobra were
lnstantaneously 10 withdraw the fapgs
after dealing the blow. his prey would
suffer no worse effect than the pain
VI those needle-like puuctures. II is
still necessary 10 inject the poison. In
ertain eases, indeed. by a strong mus
rular action, the poison has been in
leeted almost simultaneously with the
blow; nay, In u ease where the cobra
WAS inordiuately reused TO fury. the
poison was shot out by n strong mus
eular effort while the cobra was still
IN the act OF plunging- and in this case
The would-he victim. who was really
out of range. escaped the blow. but
had the poison squrtod ali over him,
Stlll. however, in most eases the poison
is injected after the blow though II be
but half second after. That half n
second has saved many life-tor in.
stance. where the blow. not being
struck fun in The body. hui only on
the edge OF H. the cobra slipped off
The body by the mere impetus of the
blow, causing the fangs 10 scratch
ilong the skin in two thin lines.
Assuming. however, that the blow
has been struck full on the body or the
victim, the cobra Immediately after the
blow wriggles his head either TO the
right or Ia the left. This act of turn
ing helps to squeeze the poison gland
situated on that side TO which the
cobra has turned. and thus TO inject
The poison over the puncture on that
side After this discharge the cobra
usually drops OF the limb in an inert
mass Us if considerably. though temp
Drarily, weakened by the loss OF the
precious fluid. There may. Of course.
be sufficient secretion still left in the
bag TO give second bite Immediately
after, but in that ease the wound may
not necessarily be fatal
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