An essay on the poison of the cobra di capello / By John Cockle.

  • Cockle, John, 1814-1901.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the poison of the cobra di capello / By John Cockle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    presents the appearance of a longitudinal slit nearly parallel to the axis of the fang. To this last descrip¬ tion the poison-tooth of the Cobra corresponds. These formidable fangs when of the complex kind are attached to small moveable maxillary bones destitute of other teeth. When not in use they are turned backwards and concealed in a fold of the jaw. They can however be protruded and erected almost instan¬ taneously. In the rudimentary germs placed near their roots we see a provision made for their repro¬ duction in the event of accidental destruction or injury. It may be as well to add, that a single row of teeth in the lower jaw and a double row in the palate are features common to the whole tribe of serpents. In those which are not venomous the whole of the outer edge of the upper jaw is furnished with teeth, even to the back part. The poison fangs on the other hand, which are two in number and symmetrically situate, are the sole occupants of the upper jaw of those of the poisonous class ; and, placed as they are upon its an¬ terior edge and occasioning a corresponding increase in its size, they may perhaps be considered to afford some slight external indication of the venomous charac¬ ter of their possessor. We have now to describe the structure and position of the venom-secreting glands. This deadly apparatus is the fountain-head whence the poison flows along the channels of the teeth. It is situated at the side of the head, and consists of a congeries of lobules. The individual lobules are subdivided into still smaller secreting portions, and constitute in their totality a gland which eventually terminates in a single duct. This duct is continuous with the perforated base of the poison-fang. The gland is invested with a dense aponeurotic n