The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-06-23
THE COBRAB FANGS.
. PROOF THAT THEY ARE NOT IN
THEMSELVES POISONOUS.

How the Reptile Strikes and the Eject
Of the BIow-ActIon IL Magnificent and
Swift as q LghtnIng Flash-Attack Il
UsralIy Fatal
Now, the so-called poisonous fangs
are not in themselves pOisOnous-that
is, they are not coated with poison;
nor even have they a capillary tube run.
ming inside along their lengths, through
which the cobra injects the poison in
to the wound If that were the case.
the cobra could not seize its food with
out injecting ii with the poison The
real fact is there iB fine tube running
from the base of each of the two IHngs
! backward under the eye to an almond
shaped gland or bag, which contains
the poison. This gland is constantly
secreting the poison. with u small sup
! ply for Immediate use. Hence, II The
tube connecting the gland TO the base
of the fang were kept open. III" poison
would be constantly running on; into
! the mouth of the cobra. and thus vast
ed TO no purpose. 10 prevent this a
circular muscle bands the tube some
where about the middle But when
the cobra strikes ats prey. this muscle
is relaxed and another one SqurcZrs
the poison bag. and thus iujrcts the
poison.
But let MS describe the whole pro
cess of striking. and srr what The
cobra does when he means mischief
He expands his head and ra3r~ at
least third of his length in the mir,
with the rest Of tl4c body colcd in the
form of spiral This spiral form
gives him sufficient anchorage to rear
his body 10y sheer muscular effect. and
also the necessary leverage in dealing
the blow His eyes @liStcn like ubel
iSks his forkeh tongue darts in and
out with low. kissing sound. Sud
denly he throws back his head in a low
curve, and MS swiftly darts forward
TO his victim, parfly as Il plunge and
partly as spring, unfolding portion
of his coil TO increase his range 1t
looks as if the cobra sprang into the
air. but, as a matter of fact, his belly
usually touches the ground at the mo-
ment of striking, In order to afford
him sufficient leverage to imbed his
fangs firmly in the body of the victim.
The action is magnificent, and yet
Is withdrawn, the mouth wide open.
The fangs fall on the victim as a
stab, the lower jaw closing in beneath
as a bite If the blow has been fair
and square, two small Punctures are
made in the flesh of the victim by the
two fangs; otherwise, If the blow has
been one sided, there will be only one
puncture.
Now. the mere striking of the blow
Is not enough, and If the cobra were
lnStantaneOusly to withdraw the fangs
after dealing the blow. his prey would
suffer no worse effect than the pain
Of those needle-like punctures. 1t is
still necessary to inject the poison. In
certain cases, indeed, by a strong mus
cular action, the poison has been in
jected almost simultaneously with the
blow; nay, in q case where the cobra
was inordinately reused to fury, the
poison was shot out by strong mus
cular effort while the cobra was still
In the act of plunging and in this case
the would-be victim, who was really
out of range, escaped the blow, hut
had the poison squirted all over him.
Still, however, in most cases the poison
Ia injected after the blow-though it be
but half second after That half
second has saved many life-for in.
stance, where the blow. not being
struck full in the body. but only on
the edge of it, the cobra slipped off
the body by the mere impetus of the
blow, causing the fangs to scratch
along 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 to 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 off the limb in an inert
mass as if considerably. though temp,
orarily, 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 case the wound may
not necessarily he fatal.