me was _ouro_, which signifies "king,"
and the animal appears in Greek literature as _ouraios_ and
_basiliscus_. With the Egyptian snake-charmers of the present day the
cobra is as great a favourite as with their Hindu colleagues. They
pretend to change the snake into a rod, and it appears that the supple
snake is made stiff and rigid by a strong pressure upon its neck, and
that the animal does not seem to suffer from this operation, but soon
recovers from the cataleptic fit into which it has been temporarily
thrown.

The cobra is the snake usually exhibited by the Indian jugglers, who
show great dexterity in handling it, even when not deprived of its
fangs. Usually, however, the front fang at least is extracted, the
creature being thus rendered harmless until the succeeding tooth takes
its place, and in many cases all the fangs, with the germs behind, are
removed--the cobra being thus rendered innocuous for life. The snake
charmer usually plays a few simple notes on the flute, and the cobra,
apparently delighted, rears half its length in the air and sways its
head and body about, keeping time to the music.

The cobra, like almost all poisonous snakes, is by no means aggressive,
and when it gets timely warning of the approach of man endeavours to get
out of his way. It is only when trampled upon inadvertently, or
otherwise irritated, that it attempts to use its fangs. It is a good
swimmer, often crossing broad rivers, and probably even narrow arms of
the sea, for it has been met with at sea at least a quarter of a mile
from land.

COBURG, a town of Germany, the twin capital with Gotha of the duchy of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, on the left bank of the Itz, an affluent of the
Regen, on the southern slope of the Frankenwald, the railway from
Eisenach to Lichtenfels, and 40 m. S.S.E. of Gotha. Pop. (1905) 22,489.
The town is for the most part old, and contains a number of interesting
buildings. The ducal palace, known as the Ehrenburg, is a magnificent
building, originally erected on the site of a convent of bare-footed
friars by Duke John Ernest in 1549, renovated in 1698, and restored in
1816 by Duke Ernest I. It contains a vast and richly decorated hall, the
court church and a fine picture gallery. In the gardens are the
mausoleum of Duke Francis (d. 1806) and his wife, a bronze equestrian
statue of Duke Ernest II. and a fountain in commemoration of Duke Alfred
(duke of Edinburgh). In the market square are the medieval