Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-07-26
THE FEAR OF SNAKES.
why Many children and Some Grown Per-
sons Dtslike Them.

why MANY children and Some 9roWn Fer
sons Disiiks Them.
There are many snthentioated IN
stances Of children becoming attached to
snakes and making pets Of thsm. The
solution Of q question Of this Kind Is
sometimes 10 be found In the child mind.
Ny experience q that when young chill
dren see this creature It's strange ap-
pearance and manner Of progression, so
unlike those Of other animals known to
them, affect them with amusement and
q sense of mystery and that they fear II
Just as they would fe@ any other strange
thing. Monkeys re doubtless affected
In much the same way, although In o
state Of nature, where they inhabit for
ests aboundfng with the larger construct
ors and venomous tree snakes, it is high
ly probable that they also possess q ira
ditional fear Of the serpent form. It
would be strange II they did not.
The experiment Of presenting Gagged
monkey with serpent carefully wrapped
up IN newspaper and watching his be-
havior when he gravely opens the par
eel, expecting to fine nothing more
wonderful than the familiar sponge
cake or succulent banana-well, such
an experiment has been recorded In
half q hundred important scientific
works, and out OF respect to ones mas
ters one ought to endeavor not to smile
when reading II. A third view might
be taken which would account for our
feeling toward the serpent without ei-
ther instinct or tradition. Extreme fear
Of all ophidfans might simply result from
Q vague knowledge Of the fact that some
kinds age venomous; that, In some rare
cases. death follows swiftly on their
bite, and that, not being sufficiently In
telligent TO distinguish the noxious from
the innocuous-at all events while un-
der the domination of o sudden, violent
emotion-we destroy them all alike,
thus adopting Herod's rough and ready
method of ridding his city of one incon-
venient babe by q general slaughter Of
innocents.
II might be objected that In Europe,
where animosity to the serpent Is great
est, death from snake bite Is hardly to be
feared; that Fontana.s 5000 experiments
with the viper. showing how small is the
amount of venom possessed by this spe-
cies, how rarely 1t has the power to de-
stroy human life, have been before the
world for century. And although It
must be admitted that Fontana's work
Is not In the hand of every peasant, the
fact remains that death from snake bite
is q rare thing In Europe, probably not
more than one losing his life from this
cause for every ESQ who perish by hydro
phobis, Of all forms Of death the most
terrible. Yet while the sight Of snake
excttes In q majority Of persons the most
violent emotions, dogs are universal IA
vorites, and we have them always with
us and make pets Of them In spite Of the
knowledge that they may at any time
become rsbid and infiict that unspeaka-
bly, dreadful suffering and destruction
ON uR
This leads to the following question:
Is It not at least probable that our ex-
cessive fear of the serpent, 30 unworthy
Of Us as rational beings, and phe cause Of
30 much unnecessary cruelty, Is partlp
at all events, a resultof our superstitious
fear Of sudden deathi For there exists,
we know, an exceedingly widespread de-
lusion that the bite Of venomous SER
pent must kill and kill quickly. Com
pared with such ophidian monarchs as
the bushmaster, fer de lance, hamadry-
ad and tic polongs, the viper Of Europe
the poor viper Of many experiments
and much mot too readable) literature
may be regarded as almost harmless-at
all events not more harmful than the
hornet. Nevertheless, In this cold, north
ern world, even as in the other worlds
where nature elaborates more potent
juices, the delusion prevails and may be
taken into account here, although its
origin cannot now be discussed. For my
own part ! am inclined to believe that
we regard serpents witha destructive
hatred purely and simply because we are
30 taught from childhood.-Macmillan's
Ma9azine.