The San Francisco call., 1896-06-10
ABOUT SNAKE CHARMING.
A Theory That the Optic Nerve Is the
Part Affected.

| N--N
Part Affected.
| Allen Chamberlain tells, in the Forest
and Stream, about 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 rustic of the leaves
as the snake wagged its tail. After a few
moments it seemed as If little blne vapor
was coming from the snake. A suffoca-
ting 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 his experience would for a mo-
ment question its truthfulness, and yet ii
must be admitted that it is well calculated
to arouse the strangers suspicion"
In the issue of March %, 1S78 of the
same paper writer said:
lone April morning in the woods /
heard rustic in the leaves and saw five
or six foot blacksnake. Two or three
inches of his tail was in rapid vibration.
| looked at it interested for while, and
the vibrating portions began to show all
the prismatic colors with such beauty of
combination as to be understandable. My
eyes blurred, and there was a pleasant
sensation of dizziness. The first knew l
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 the same kinds of snakes.
none less than five or six feet long"
In the October (18S0) issue of Nature an
article on the subject of ''Snake Fascina-
! tion" told of the action OF a bird that
watched viper,
'At the distance of ten yards ! saw a
snake whose body, the head of which was
lifted from the ground about three feet,
was swaying to and fro. plaintiVe
finch in branch OF young pine over
hanging the snake; its feathers were ruff
| fled, following with nod of his head on
each side of the branch the motions of the
snake. He tottered, spread out his wings,
alighted on lower branch and so on un-
til the last branch was reached. flung a
stick at the snake, and like an arrow it dis
appeared. On approaching l saw the green
finch on the ground agitated by convulsive
and spasmodic motions: he clutched nv
finger spasmodically. He eagerly drank
water, and after while flew away. While
watching the snake felt peculiar giddi-
ness, a squeezing like an iron hoop
pressed in my temples, and the ground
seemed to heave, quite like seasickness. 1
think snake fascination is the result of ia
| tigue of the optic nerve.
Every work of natural history dealing
with snakes and their ways has reference
to "snake charming" The Smithsonian
Institution report tor 1898 said in part:
The popular belief in the power of the
l. poisonous snake to charm its victims is
by no means eXterminated. Trustworthy
observers have related how birds and
small animals have been seen to approach
the coilad snake, drawn toward it as by a
magic SPELL yet sin spite of all that has
been argued for and against it there are
people who profess to have ocular proof of
this power.
Professor Brehm once made series of
experiments in a well-Iighted room" says
the report, land in every case except one
the victim at first made it's escape, but was
captured in articulo mortis after betraying
its waning strength by curious symp-
TOMS" The birds and animals were spar
rows, gophers, rats, weasels, quails, wood
peckers and meadow larks.-Pittsburg Dis
patch.