The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-11-29
The Snake Oharrner.

1t Is well known that snakes are, as
rule, very fond of music, seeming to-
De charmed by it. Especially is this
| noticeable In the cobra-capellas, the
terrible hooded serpents of India
General Campbell relates an instance
OF snake-charming, which took place
under his eyes, and was sufficiently re-:
markable. A large cobra had been dis;
covered in the bottom of dry we'll,
and had been frightened into its hole
in the brickwork by the servants, who;
had pelted him with stones. The snake; !;
charmers were therefore sent for to en-;
tice him out: /
''At first the snake, who had been
considerably bullied before he took ref .
uge in his hole, was deaf to the note of /,
the charmer, but after half an hours s |,
constant playing the spell began to op-
crate, and the snake was heard to-
move. In a few minutes more he !
thrust out his head, horse-hair noosei
was dextrously slipped over it, andi
drawn tight, and we hoisted up, the !
men dangling their snake in triumph. !
Having carried him to an open space of !
ground they released him from the /
moose. The enraged snake Immediate |;
ly made rush at the bystanders, put,
ting to flight q crowd of native SER
wants who had assembled to witness /
the sport. The snake-charmer, tapping,
him on the tail with switch, induced !
him to turn upon himself, at the same,
moment sounding his pipe. The snaket
curled himself up, and raised his head, !
expanded his hood, and appeared aboutt
to strike; but instead of doing so, hei
remained in the same position, as if |.
fascinated by the music, darting out
his slender forked tongue, and follow,
ing with his head the motion of tho
mans knee, which he kept moVingi
from side to side within few inches Of
him, as if tempting him to bite. :
''No sooner did the music cease, than
the snake darted forward with SUCH
fury that it required great agility onl
the part of the man to avoid him, and
made off as fast as he could go. The
sound of the pipe, however, invariably
made him stop, and obliged him to re-!
main in an upright position as long asi
the man continued to play. After re-: !:
peating this experiment several times, !,
he placed a fowl within his reach, which,
he instantly darted at and bit. The
fowled screamed out the moment he,
was struck, but ran off and began pick-l
ing among his companions as if Moth
ing had happened. l pulled out my
watch to see how long the venom took
to operate. In about half minute the,
comb and wattles of the fowl began to
change from red to livid hue, and
were soon nearly black, but no other
symptoms were apparent. In two min
utes it began to stagger, was seized
with strong convulsions, fell to the
ground, and continued to struggle vio-
lently till it expired, exactly three min
utes and half after it had been bitten.
On plucking the fowl we found that he
had merely been touched on tho eI-
tremest point of the pinion. The wound,
not larger than the puncture of q
needle, was surrounded by a livid spot;
but the remainder of the body, with the
exception of the comb and WattleS
(Which were of a dark livid hue), was
OF the natural color, and | afterwards
learned that the coachman, a half
caste, had eaten it. The charmer now
offered to show us his method of CATCH
ing snakes, and seizing the reptile
(about five feet long) by the point of
the Ta1T with MS tert ndnu, ne slipped
the right hand along the body with the
swiftness of lightning, and grasping
him by the throat with his finger and
thumb, held him fast, and forced him
to open his jaws and display his pois-
onous fangs. Having now gratified
my curiosity proposed that the snake
should be destroyed, or, at least, that
his fangs might be extracted, an opera
ton easily performed with pair of
forceps. But the snake being a re-
markably fine one, the charmer was
unwilling to extract his teeth, as he
said the operation sometimes proved
fatal, and begged so hard to keep him
as he was, that at last suffered him to
put him in basket and carry him off.
After this he frequently brought the
snake to the house to exhibit him, and I
still with his fangs entire, as L ascer-
tanned by personal inspection, but so
tame that he handled it freely, and ap-
parently without fear or danger
The very best proof that the snakes
fangs were not removed existed in the
fact that he one day bit the charmer
and killed him.-IHe Eye. aL /