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has some resemblance to a pair of spectacles, hence has arisen one of the names given to it. It has two large fangs carrying out of the upper jaw, and pos sesses the power of enlarging its neck to a vast capacity, and has a loose kind of membrane, which it can augment at pleasure; he does so especially when irritated, and then raises himself up, carrying his head horizontally, so that the expanded membrane appears like a kind of hood behind his head. The Naja is extremely ferocious; when he means to spring on any person, he raises himself up with boldness; his eyes sparkle with tremendous brightness; he expands his hood in token of his rage, opens his mouth, and darts forward with rapidity, shewing at the same time the points of his venomous fangs. Unless immediate antidotes be administered, the bite proves fatal; the part gangrenes, and the person expires in convulsions.

The Great Boa, or Boa Constrictor, some specimens of which, though of an inferior size, have been exhibited in this country, is the largest of all the serpent tribe, being from 20 to 40 feet in length. These terrible creatures kill animals of all sorts and sizes, by coiling round, and crushing them to death. In this crushed state they swallow them whole. Of a creature of this kind, the following anecdote is related. A sailor went on shore on the island of Celebes in the East Indies, and lay down to sleep on the beach. In the night he was heard by his comrades to cry out for assistance; they immediately hastened to the shore,

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