_Reptiles._--The serpent tribe in India is numerous; they swarm in all the gardens, and intrude into the dwellings of the inhabitants, especially in the rainy season. Most are comparatively harmless, but the bite of others is speedily fatal. The cobra di capello (_Naia tripudians_)--the name given to it by the Portuguese, from the appearance of a hood which it produces by the expanded skin about the neck--is the most dreaded. It seldom exceeds 3 or 4 ft. in length, and is about 1¼ in. thick, with a small head, covered on the forepart with large smooth scales; it is of a pale brown colour above, and the belly is of a bluish-white tinged with pale brown or yellow. The Russelian snake (_Vipera russellii_), about 4 ft. in length, is of a pale yellowish-brown, beautifully variegated with large oval spots of deep brown, with a white edging. Its bite is extremely fatal. Itinerant showmen carry about these serpents, and cause them to assume a dancing motion for the amusement of the spectators. They also give out that they render snakes harmless by the use of charms or music,--in reality it is by extracting the venomous fangs. But, judging from the frequent accidents which occur, they sometimes dispense with this precaution. All the salt-water snakes in India are poisonous, while the freshwater forms are wholly innocuous. The other reptiles include two species of crocodile (_C. porosus_ and _C. palustris_) and the ghariyal (_Gavialis gangeticus_). These are more ugly in appearance than destructive to human life. Scorpions also abound. Fishes.