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The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

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<strong>The</strong>y are not known to fight together from rivalry.<br />

<strong>The</strong>ir intellectual powers are higher than<br />

might have been anticipated. In the Zoological<br />

Gardens they soon learn not to strike at the iron<br />

bar with which their cages are cleaned; and Dr.<br />

Keen <strong>of</strong> Philadelphia informs me that some<br />

snakes which he kept learned after four or five<br />

times to avoid a noose, with which they were at<br />

first easily caught. An excellent observer in<br />

Ceylon, Mr. E. Layard, saw (60. 'Rambles in<br />

Ceylon,' in 'Annals and Magazine <strong>of</strong> Natural<br />

History,' 2nd series, vol. ix. 1852, p. 333.) a cobra<br />

thrust its head through a narrow hole and<br />

swallow a toad. "With this encumbrance he<br />

could not withdraw himself; finding this, he<br />

reluctantly disgorged the precious morsel,<br />

which began to move <strong>of</strong>f; this was too much for<br />

snake philosophy to bear, and the toad was<br />

again seized, and again was the snake, after<br />

violent efforts to escape, compelled to part with<br />

its prey. This time, however, a lesson had been

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