The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-09-11
Fascination by Snakes.

III HAROLD :. FERGrSoX. +. l.. $.
SO error is apparently more rooted
in the human mind than that Which
attributes to snakes peculiar power
called ''f;l>cinaton. which they are
believed TO be capable Of voluntarily
exercising. BY this power they are
said to be able 50 to raralyzc their
victims that they are rendered utterly
incapably Y of movement, and wait for
the attack Of 4 snake, or even 30 for
ward to meet it, in fear and trembling.
but without any power Of retaliation.
Now any one who watches the behavior
Of small animals placed alive rs food
in the cages in which snakes are kept
in captivity, in the hope Of seeing this
marvellous power in operation, will be
aricyouSly disappointed: chickens, rats.
guinea PIGS. rabbits, all move about
with an utter absence Of fear of the
snakes. 1t may be said thar all these
are more or less IomcSticatcd animals,
and have no hereditary dread Of their
natural enemy: but wild rats. placed
in the care Of their particular pursucr,
the rat snake of India (Iamcnis muco-
.sus), exhibit an absence of fear.
How, then. is it possible 20 account
for the existence of the belief in the
possession by snakes Of the so-callcd
power of fascination? 1t may have
arisen from several causes. An OBJ
server may come on the scene and
find number of birds mobhinga snake
Just rs they will mob an owl or kite.
The dasllcs of the birds toward the
snake and their huttcring round it
may easily be put down to the effect
Of the snake glance, while they are,
in reality, merely the attempts of the
birds to drive off the intruder. \
mother bird whose young are attacked
will almost certainly behave in this
way. and may herself fall victim,
not to the power Of fascination i'll the
snake. but to the force Of her mater
nal feelings. Then again it has been
noticed that hen placed in snake 5
cage will often 90 toward it and make
IL determined peck at the snakes
tongue. Dr. Stradling has also seen
4 frog doing the same thing.
Were this seen to occur in Il wild
bird, it might easily be PIT down to
fascination. With regard to snakes
that kill their prey by the injection
Gf poison. it is even more easy to ac-
count for the appearance Of the power,
for they bite once and once only. The
poison does not kill at once: the vic
tim iiuttcrs on to branch. it may be,
or runs short distance and stops,
the snake watches it. the poison does
its deadly work, and the bird falls.
ANY one who comes up not having
seen the attacl; might in this way be
readily deceived into imagining that
it was the glance Of the snake and not
the poison that caused the victim to
FALL 1t may be then the approach Of
an inScctivorous bird or mammal who,
taking the movements Of the snake $
tongue for those Of worm or insect
hcpcs to secure meal. 1t may be
the mobbing of the snake by the COM
panions Of victim that has been
seized, or Of mother whose nest has
been robbed: it may be simply the
effect Of poison already injected be-
fore the observer has come upon the
scene, or it may be simple curiosity.
These explanations should suffice to
satisfy all those whose minds are not
50 filled with the love Of mystery as
to make them prefer to believe in the
possession Of this power. simply be-
cause it is mysterious. and, therefore,
to refuse 4 common sense cxplanatlon.
In Mincty-ninc cases out Of a hun
,lrcd one or other Of the above causes
has been at work. What. then, OF
tic hundrcdth case, and what about
The fascination exercised on nan.
cases Of which have undoubtedly been
recorded? The explanation lies in
the probability that it is case Of
hypnotiSm: it may be said, however,
tbs is giving up the whole argument
and admitting that Il snake can fasci-
nate. only it is calling the power by
another name anl saying that it can
hypnotizc. But this is not 50. Tie
snake does not hypnotic, the person
is Sclf-mcsmerizcd the action is pure
t. subjective. Every one knows the
rhool boy trick of holding Il cock
with its bcak pressed against a table
aud drawing chalk line FROM the tip
Of the bcak along the table. The
bird will remain in the position it has
been placed in, though pcrfcctly; free
20 ,loye. Now the snake no morc cX-
cYci>eS the power voluntarily than
does the chalk line: position and tao
tile impression here produce phyno-
lisn and visual impression can pro-
lucc it likewise. 1t is an error to
,uppoSc will power has anything to 10
with the effect. The matter ha. been
taken mp scientifically by the nedical
profession, especially in Franco. and
it has been found that the hypnotic
tate Of sleep Of trance, or whatever
it HAY be termed. can be produced By
looking iixcdIy at the operator or at
coin or Il, the tip ot one : "%ll nose:
j; is not necessary to 80 into thcque>
ton 81 how the result i, brought
.bout. but there is Il physiological cy-
planat;on. What happens then in
The lrrlrcdlh case i that the man or
tGc animal may be >c!f hypnotizcd ly
.a%im. ;iXcll Y at the snake. the sub
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