Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-11-07
Snake Charming.

In India the favorite snake for eXh1Dl-
tion is the cobra, partly because OF It's
more striking appearance, and partly be-
cause. its deadly character being so well
known, any trifing with 1t appears to
the initiated public the more wonderful
Nor, indeed, do the performances of the
Hindoo sp~; t-cl-nATs lose, on better
acOuaipF' ,.ze, all their maTvelousness,
for =. ., .rage of a hi b order, arising
,.,,g rom the confluence acquired by
,ol.t practice, is manifested in seizlDg
and bagging the dreadful Ophidian.
In most cases the charmcr renders the
reptiIes harmless by drawing thler pol
son fangs, and the exhibition becomes
then merely one of the snakes highly
trained condition. On the other hand 1t
bappens that the basket contains tho
veTitable death-dealer, and cobra with
its fangs undrawn is nearly always forth
coming If the temptation IN money oe
sufficiently strong. But in handling OF
the creature when once exposed there
is no hesitation, for hesitation means
death. and in the swift seizure and sud-
den release there is daring OF an excep-
tiOnal kind. A cobra strikes, when 1t
has really made up its mind to strlKe,
with LIGHTNING rapidity, and to dodge
| LIGHTNING successfully requires consldera-
Bile agility.
The snake-charmers, however, when
mt on their mettle, vii grasp the erect
cobra with impunity, owing solely to the
s11perior speed of their movements,
for by feint they provoke the reptile 70
| strike. and before it can recover It's attn
| tude seize it below the jaws. In the
same Way the ichneumOn or mOngOOSe
| secures in contest with venOmOus snakes
| a comparative immunity. 1t was for q
/ long time an article of faith with writers
! of popular works on natura. history, thai
/ this animal enjoyed a complete immu-
/ nity, but scientific experiment has cor
reCted this fallacy. A AmOEgOose and cobra
/ confined together fought freely, ana
/ though the latter seemed to the eye 70
/ strike his antagonist repeatedly, the
| mOngoose, on being examined after XIII
| ingthesn was found to be untouched
! Another cobra was then brought on to
the scene, and being made to close Its
| fanOs on the mongoOse's leg, the animal
| confessed its susceptibility to the poison
| nv diving in about four minutes. 1t was
| therefore by its superior activity alone
| that in a fair fight with the reptile II
| had ESCAPED unhurt and to the same
| cause the snake charmer owes the I'M
| munity that attends his exhibition. BUT
as in the case of the mongOOse, the snake
charmer when actually bitten dies as
Soon as any other creature, and IN spite
Of all the powers of his charms, IOQtS
and snake stones. The HindOo specta-
Tor refuses to believe this, and enjoys
therefore, by his creduhty, a pleasure
denied to more intelligent audiences, for
IF we could only accept as truth the
rbormer's statement that he has really
been bitten, and that the red drops on
the bitten spot were actually blood ex-
uding from the fatal puncture, and could
then believe that the root he smelt, the
stones he applied to the wound, and the
charms he muttered were yeritably
counteracting the magic Of the cobra's
poison, the spectacle would be OF sur
passing interest, since it would Dc q
miracle.
For the cobra's bite there is no remedy
EXCEPT instant amputation, and t9e tlS
snake charmer himself knows tins Vel
Asameans of general security he con.
fdes in his dextrous slight OF hand, Du'
in cases of accident he carries broad
| bladed knife.