The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-27

SECRETS OF SNAKE CHARMING.
Reptiles Intelligence Only Tricks
OF the Trade.
From tho New York Time


From the New York Times
A few days ago there appeared in one of
the daily papers a wonderful story of a
snake, which was charmed by the strains
Of jew SHARP. The story was to the en-
feet that a countryman, meeting a dan
gerous reptile in a road. was Mortified at
seeing the creature prepare to attack him.
Being an enthusiastic performer upon the
jew SHARP, he Immediately struck up the
tune st. Patricks Day in the Morning"
which either paralyzed the serpent with
establishment or sent a series of sentiment
tai chlns down its uudulating vertebrae.
AT any rate it discarded all hostile in
tentions and became motionless, when the
Countryman mercilessly ground its head
into the dust.
This is an example of the many SNAKE
stories" which appear constantly before
the eyes of credulous humanity. 1t orig
mates, like all of its kind, from supersti
tious sources. Snakes are utterly devoid
of any sense of appreciation of music.
They have no ears, and, although they
may distinguish vibrations of heavy sounds
upon their delicate scales a voracious,
hungry serpent is entirely ignorant of the
presence of a chirping bird, providing IL
does not see or scent its prey. The ia
miliar exhibitions of the East Indian ia
kris, during which the deadly cobra is
made to dance" to the music of flute,
have led many to believe that these crea-
lures are extremely sensitive to the sound
of music. But exhibitions of this charac-
ter are only tricks practiced by the clever
Hindu, and the cobra, instead of being in
quescent, charmed condition, as it
waves its body to and fro, is really in
fit of intense anger.
L.,
possession of DR.. Joseph c. Thompson of
Rosebank S, l., an assistant surgeon in
the United States navy. This reptile was
purchased by DR.. Thompson in South At
RIGA. 1t was then in the possession Of some
professional snake charmers. After il had
left their hands il was made to go through
a lively performance without the accom-
paniment of the weird music of the fakir
The operation of making the cobra dance
is very simple. The reptile has the char
acterstic habit of elevating the forward
part of the body from the ground when an
noyed. spreading its neck or hood and
slaring fercely at the object of its anger
When In this position its keen eyes watch
eagerly for chance to deliver a deadly
blow, observing every movement of the
object or person i'm front of it, If one
moves, no matter how slightly, there is a
corresponding nervous movement on the
part of the snake. Here the entire secret
of the snake dance is explained. When The
Hindu opens the snake basket the cobras
rise ominously to their peculiar position
of defense. He now commands the snakes
TO dance, at the same time beginning n
lively tune upon his flute and swaying his
body from side 10 side an time to the mu-
sic, The nervous cobras follow every mo-
ton of the supposed charmer. They are
not dancing to the music, but intensely
angered, are seeking to revenge them
solves their human
The charming act of the bespangl-
ed female with the giant boas and ty-
phons Mt the circus. is even more simple
The large snakes used in these exhibitions
are, i'm the first place, of a harmless ma
ture Secondly, they are most inoffensive
in their habits. The lazy boa will lie for
hours. or days, motionless in his cage
and when suddenly awakened from long
nap is utterly indifferent to what is GO
ing on around il. After a few weeks in
captivity these huge reptiles become very
tame. and seem to enjoy being handled by
one familiar with their movements. The
chief requisites of a snake charmer" are
great deliberation and sufficient nerve to
handle tcn-foot boa or anaconda with
out the slightest hesitation. A nervous
movement is apt TO annoy the serpent, and
cause 1t to bite, while il treated gently
and handled with movements correspond
ing to its sluggish habits, ii evinces the ut
most good nature.
Accounts have been published of large
snakes coiling themselves about the object
of their annoyance and demonstrating in
an exceedingly uncomfortable. If not dan
gerous. manner the power of their scaly
bodies. The characteristic is poplarly sup
posed TO be commonly resorted to by the
boa constructor" but the idea is purely
erroneous end originates from an aversion
TO the serpent race from which have
sprung innumcrable fallacies and supersti-
tons.