, 1879-05-29
The Secrete OF Snake.Charning

In India the tavorite snake !or eXhIbl-
tion is the cobra, partly because OF us
more striking appearance, ana par'' De- De-,
cause, its deadly character being so vel
known, any triaing with 1t appears to the
uninitiated public the more wonderful
Nor, indeed, do the performances OF the
Hindoo snake charming lose, on better
acquaintance, all their marvelousness, tor
courage of high order, arising partly
from the confidence acquired ny !ohg
practice, is manifested in sei2ing and bag
ging the dreadful obhidan.
In most cases the charmer renders the
REPTILES harmless by drawing their poison
fangs, and the exhibition becomes then
merely one which exhibits the snakes
highly trained condition, On the other
hand, it often happens that the basket con
tains the yeritable death-dealer, and a
cobra with his Iangs undrawn is nearly al
wavs forthcoming if the temptation in mon
ey be sufficiently strong But in the hand
ling 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 except
ional kind. The cobra strikes, when 1t
has really made up its mind to strike, with
lightning rapidly, and to dodge lightning
successfully requires considerable agility
The snake -charmers, however, when
pu, on their mettle, will grasp the erect
cobra with impunitv, owing solely to the
superior speed of their movements, tor by
feint they provoke the reptile to strike
and before it can recover its attitude seize
it below the Jaw In the same way the
ichneuman or mongoose secures in con-
tests with venomous snakes comparative
immunity. 1t was for long time an
article of faith with writers OF popular
works on natural history that THIS animal
enjoyed a comp plete immunity but scen-
ti6c experiment has corrected this fallacy.
A mongoose and cobra confined together
fought freely, and though the latter SEEM
ed to the eye to strike his antagonist re-
peatedly, the mongoose on being exam
ined after it had killed the snake, was
found to be untouched.
Another cobra was then brought On 10
the scene, and, being made to close its
fangs on the mongoose's leg, the. animal
confessed its susceptibility to the poison
by dying in about four minutes. ltwas,
therefore. by its superior activity alone
that in a fair fight with the reptile it had
escaped unhurt, and to the same cause
the snake>eharmer owes the immunity
that attends his exhibition, But, as in
the case of the mongoose, the snake-char-
mer, when actually bitten, dies as rapidly
as any other creature, in spite Of all the
powers of his charms, roots and snake.
stone. The Hindoo spectator refuses to
believe this, and enjoys. therefore, by his
credulity. pleasure denied TO more in
telligent audiences, forif we could only
accept as truth the charmer's statement
that he has really been bitten and the red
drops on the bitten spot were actually
blood exuding from the fatal puncture,
and could then believe that the root he
smelt, the stone he applied to the wound
and the charms he muttered we're verit-
ably counteractiny the magic ofthe cobra's
poison, the spectacle would be Of surpas-
sing interest. since it would be a miracle.
From the London Telegraph.