Note 110 — Chapter III · THE WEAPONS OF THE AGE OF WOOD: THE BOOMERANG AND THE SWORD OF WOOD; OF STONE, AND OF WOOD AND STONE COMBINED.

Strangers in Egypt often suppose the true asp to be the Cerastes, or horned snake. As the hieroglyphics and the monuments prove, it is invariably the cobra de capello (Coluber Haja), an inhabitant of Africa as well as of Asia. The colour of this deadly thanatophid—which annually kills thousands in India—varies with its habitat from light yellow to dull green and dark brown. The worst I ever saw are upon the Guinea Coast.