St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-09-16
THE FEAR OF, SNAKES,

= =. : -,
THE FEAR OF SNAKES,
Why Many ChnArea aed seDs 0rswn
f.V fsfssas Dlaliks Then.
There sro suthenticated instances Of
children becoming attached 70 snakes
and making pets Of them. Tho solu-
ton of . question Of this kind il some
times to be found in the child mind
My experience is that when yonng
children sec this creature its strange
appearance and manner of progression.
50 unlike those of other animals known
to them, affect them with amazement
and = sense Of mystery, and that they
fear il just rs they would any other
strange thing. Monkeys are doubtless
affected in much the same way, although
in state Of nature. where they inhabit
forests abounding with the larger con-
strictors and vcnomous 'tree-snales, il
is highly probable that they also possess
. traditional fear of the serpent form.
II would be strange If they did not
The experiment. Of presenting Gagged
monkey with. q. serpent carefully
wrapped mp In a newspaper, and watch
ing his behavior when he gravely opens
the parcel. expecting to find nothing;
more wonderful than the familiar
sponge-cake or succulent hansna-well.
such an experiment has been recorded
in half hundred important scien-
tiflc works, and out of respect
10 ones masters ono ought to en-
deavor not to smile when reading
It. A third view might be taken which
would account for our feeling towards
the serpent without either instinct or
tradition. Extreme fear Of all ophid-
ians might simply result from vague
knowledge of the fact that some kinds
death follows swiftly on their bite; and
that, not being sufficiently intelligent
TO distinguish the noxious from the in
nocuous-at all events while under the
domination OF sudden violent emotion
I'VE destroy them all alike, thus sdopt-
ing Herod's rough and ready method
of ridding his city Of one inconvenient
babe BY . general slaughter Of inno-
cents s ist- !.trfi .ili' 'g. =
It.might be objected that in Europe.
where animosity to the serpent is great
est, death from snake-bite II hardly to
be feared; that Fontana's six thousand
experiments with the viper. showing
how small Is the amount of venom
possessed by this species. how rarely it
has the power to destroy human life.
have been before the world for . CEN
tury. And although II must be admit
ted that Fontanas work is not in the
hand Of every peasant, the fact that
death from snake-bite is . rare thing in
Europe, probably not more than one
person losing his life from this cause
for every two hundred and fifty who
perish by hydrophobia, of all forms of
death the most terrible. Yet while
the sight of . snake excites in . major
ity of persons the most violent emo
tions, dogs are universal favorites,
and we have them always with
US. and make pets Of them. in
spite of the knowledge that they
may ut any time become rabid and In
flict that unspealnbly dreadful, suffer
ing and destruction on us This leads
to the following question: Is II not ut
least probable that cur excessive fear
Of the serpent. SO unworthy of rs rs
rational beings. and the cause of 50
much unnecessary cruelty, is, partly,
at al events, . result Of our sspcfsti-
tious fear of sudden death? For there
exists. We know, an exceedingly wide
spread delusion that the bite Of . ven
omous serpent must kill, and kill
quickly. Compared with such ophidian
monarchS as the bush-master, fer-de-
lance, hamadryad. and tic-polonga, the
viper of Europe-the poor viper Of
many experiments and much mot too
readable) ftcrature-may be regarded
as almost harmless-at all events. not
moro harmful than the hornet Never
theless, in this cold. northern world,
even rs In other eworlds where nature
elaborates more potent juices. the delu-
sion prevails. and may be taken in &C
count here, although its origin cannot
now be discussed.
For my own part am inclined 70 BE-
lieve that we regard serpents with n
destructive hatred purely and simply
because We are so taught from child
hood. A. tradition may b handed
down without writing, or even articu-
late speech We have not altogether
ceased 20 be s'lower animals ourselves
Show . child by your gestures and &C.
tions that thing is fearful to you. and
he will fear IL; that you hate II, and he
will catch your hatred.-Macmillan's
Magazine .ta-- fR ffc1 re
Cpeomed CAulimowef.