The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-29
ABOUT SNAKE CHARMING.
Instances Wherein serpents Have
Exercised influence Over Man.

From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
Allen Chamberlain tells. in the Forest
and Stream, about a Georgia man who
saw a little whip snake coiled ON some
leaves. He stopped to look at the reptile,
and as he did so there was a rustic of the
leaves as the snake wagged it's tail. After
a few moments itzseemed as if a little
blue vapor was coming from the snake A
suffocating sensation seized the man. Then
he suddenly realized that he was being
charmed, but with considerable effort he
managed to break the spell and seize the
snake in his hands and kill it. Mr. Cham
berlain says that mo man who knew the
subject of this experience would for mo-
ment question it's truthfulness and yet it
must be admitted that it is we'll calculated
to arouse the strangers suspicion
In the issue of March %. 1873, of the same
paper a writer said:
zone April morning in the woods heard
a rustic in the leaves and saw five or
of his tail was in rapid vibration,
l looked at it interested for awhile and
the vibrating portions began to show all
the prismistic colors with such beauty of
combination as to be indescribable.
My eyes blurred and there was a pleasant
sensation of dizziness. The first | knew
was falling to the ground
frightened. / turned away. My muscles
and nerves were unsteady. The
snake raised at me several times .
The same summer made experiments on
five or six feet long"
In the October. 1880. issue of Nature, an
article on the subject of SNAKE fascina-
ton" told of the action of a bird that
watched a viper.
"At the distance of ten yards I saw
snake whose body, the head of which was
lifted from the ground about three feet
was swaying to and fro. A plaintive Shrek
attracted my attention to a green finch in
a branch of young pine overhanging the
snake; it's feathers were ruff1ed following
with nod of his head on each side of the
branch the motions of the snake He tot
tered, spread out his wings, alighted on
branch was reached. 1 flung a stick at
the snake, and like an arrow it disap-
peared. On approaching l saw the green
finch on the ground agitated by convulsve
and spasmodic motions; he clutched nv
finger spasmodically. He eagerly drank
water and after while few away. While
watching the snake felt a peculiar giddi-
ness, a squeezing like an iron hoop pressed
in my temples, and the ground seemed to
heave, quite like seasickness / think
snake fascination is the result of fatigue
Every work of natural history dealing
with snakes and their ways has reference
Institute report for 1898 said In part:
1.-The popular belief in the power of the
poisonous snake to charm its victims is
by no means exterminated. Trustworthy
observers have related how birds or small
animals have been seen to approach the
coiled snake, drawn towards it as by a
magic SPELL" yet lin spite of all that has
been argued for and against it, there are
people who profess to have ocular proof of
this power.
Prof. Brehm once made a series Of ex-
periments in well-lighted ROOM" says
the report, land in every case except one
the victim at first made its escape but was
captured in articulo mortis after betray-
ing its waning strength by curious symp-
toms" The birds and animals were spar
rows, gopherS, rats, weasels, quails wood
peckerS and meadow larks.