Milford chronicle., 1896-03-13
DO SNAKES CHARM2
rusar ARE pros AND CONS TO THIS
QUESTION APPARENTLY.

A Tale from A0A@o
Amrmatsse. but There Are Sasor@'i'''
w.. s.v NO-olaln That the Snakes
victim. Are self HypnOtired.
a eopbe- snake at Escondido has been
+ha canse Of much earnest dlsoussion
among local uaturalists Inc question
ss.,,,,ssod was. do Snakes Charm OF
S5..rroti1e Their Prey?" One OF the
...s..,ralists had the unusual but fortunate
--ns~;ence at Escoudido Of happening
mon 4 large gopher snake just as ing
-.,.-t;1o was about to overcome a tfeni-
49, cottontail rabbit and envelop the
DSs "a its deadly coils. For some
4ime the naturalist watched tne s''aAo
LIZ n vas within la on IL inches OF the
snnarently fascinated rabbit. silently
IN almost imperceptibly the snake haa
..,a-,,,ea its way nearer and nearer TO lts
vict;m It's eyes glistened with an IN,
tenso briehtness. Not movement ana
q make which might alarm the tlmid
~sbbit The forked tongue, when 10
tbe eve Of human being is so repulsiYe
snd intended 10 be terrifying, appeared
"a exert an entirely different influence
mon the mind of the innocent rabbit
This darting tongue either excited
the victims curiosity OF caused the ami
NAL TO SO concentrate its uind on the
snakes tongue -as to throw that mind
into hypnotic condition of such
strength that it could not break the
smell and run away from impending
death. The forked tongue daTted ont Of
the snakes mouth almost as regularly
and RAPIDLY as the needle Of a sewing
machine rises and falls in the cloth. The
1.-the body crept nearer and nearer. Inc
rabbit was motionless Its eye was fixed
ON the piercing eye Of the snake. Even
the waving Of the wind kissed shrubs
ahont the rabbit failed to break the spell,
and softly and slowly grim death IN
snake form wreathed its folds about the
creature. Then was the spell broken.
But the strong coils Of the snake were
in position. Never a rabbit lived that
could break that embrace Of death.
Realizing at last the terrible peril, the
terrified rabbit struggled vainly to es-
cape, and as the rings Of the snake drew
closer about the frail form so tightly
that breathing became difficult the rab-
bit uttered a despairing cry almost hu-
man in its intenseness and sound. 1t
was the rabbits last earthly utterance.
An extra twist Of the cruel coils and
poor bunny was no more. Lungs, heart
and bones were literally crushed. The
snake did not relax the pressure for full
" ten minutes. Unwinding itself, the
snake dragged the prey under an adj
Joining bush for dinner.
To the naturalist who watched the
capture Of the rabbit it appeared as If
the snake had certainly fascinated the
animal. As a gopher snake is not poi
sonous and has no we'll developed fangs
Ats only means Of killing prey is by con-
striotion. In order to catch an animal
1t seems almost necessary for the snake
to fasoinate the victim.
Other naturalists claim that snakes do
not possess the power Of fascinating ell
Their birds or animals. One man who has
given the matter much study remarked
that mo error is apparently more rooted
in the human mind than that which at
tributes to snakes this peculiar power of
fascination. By this power they are
said to be able SO to paralyze their vic
Tins that the birds or animals are rem
dered utterly incapable Of movement and
wait for the attack of snake or even go
forward to meet It in fear and trembling,
but without any power Of retaliation.
Now, any one who watches the be-
havior Of small animals placed alive as
food in the cages in which snakes are
kept in captivity in the hope of seeing
this marvellous power in operation will
be grievously disappointed. Chickens,
rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, all move
about with an utter absence Of fear of
the snakes Ny belief is that it is posi-
BILE to account for the popular belief that
snakes possess a power to fascinate for
several reasons. An observer may come
on the scene and find a number Of birds
mobbing q snake just as they will mob
an owl or a buzzard. The dashes Of the
bird toward the snake and their hutter
ing round it may easily be put down to
the effect of the snakes glance, while
they are in reality merely attempts Of
the birds to drive off the intruder. A
mother bird whose young are attacked
will almost certainly behave in this way
and may herself fall a victim, not to the
power of fascination i'll the snake, but
to the force of her maternal feelings.
It may be the mobbing Of the snake
by the companions of victim that has
been seized or of a mother whose nest
has been robbed; it may be simply the
effect Of poison already injected before
the. observer has come upon the scene,
crit may be simple curiosity. In ninety
nine cases out of a hundred one or the
other Of these causes has been at work.
What, then, of the hundredth case, and
what about the fascination exercised on
man, cases of which have undoubtedly
been recorded? The explanation lies in
the probability that it is case Of self
hypnotism.
It is an error to suppose that will
power has anything to do with the eff
feet. The matter has been taken up sci
entifcally by the medical profession and
&c has been found that the hypnotic
state Of sleep or trance, or whatever it
may be termed, can be produced by
looking fixedly at the operator or at a
coin or at the tip Of ones own nose. It
is not necessary to go into the question
OF how the result is brought about, but
there is a physiological explanation,
What happens then in the hundredth
case is that the man or the animal may
be self hypnotized by gazing fxedly at
the snake, the subject being thus thrown
into a sort of trance, making no attempt
TO move out Of danger unless reused by
some exterior influence. San Diego Cor.
Chicago Times Herald
EmersOn's Portrait Of One Statesman,
IN Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on
f'Behavior'' occurs the following; 1--WE
had IN Massachusetts,, an old statesman
who had sat all his life in courts and in
nhalrs Of state Without Overcoming an ax-