Finally we can see that if,
on the one hand, those individual snakes, which were best able
to frighten away their enemies, escaped best from being devoured;
and if, on the other hand, those individuals of the attacking
enemy survived in larger numbers which were the best fitted
for the dangerous task of killing and devouring venomous snakes;--
then in the one case as in the other, beneficial variations,
supposing the characters in question to vary, would commonly have been
preserved through the survival of the fittest.
[29] See the account by Dr. R. Brown, in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 39.
He says that as soon as a pig sees a snake it rushes upon it; and a snake
makes off immediately on the appearance of a pig.
[30] Dr. Gunther remarks (`Reptiles of British India,' p. 340) on the
destruction of cobras by the ichneumon or herpestes, and whilst the cobras
are young by the jungle-fowl. It is well known that the peacock also
eagerly kills snakes.
[31] Prof. Cope enumerates a number of kinds in his `Method of Creation
of Organic Types,' read before the American Phil. Soc., December 15th,
1871, p. 20. Prof. Cope takes the same view as I do of the use
of the gestures and sounds made by snakes.
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