340 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. III. 



bowl containing the suds. He dips it into the bowl, and holding it in 

 one hand, draws it through the othei and then hands it to his compan- 

 ion, who repeats the operation with the reptile in the other bowl, and 

 then places it on the sand field; another snake follows, and then 

 another, etc. The men have in the mean while lit pipes and are 

 solemnly smoking, handing the pipes from one to the other, exchang- 

 ing terms of relationship. The snakes, of course, try to escape, but 

 are herded, and sometimes pushed back with the whips. The smoke, 

 drawn from the pipes, is constantly blown towards the snakes. But 

 in spite of all these measures the snakes make desperate efforts to 

 escape, not only the racers that glide and shoot swiftly up and down, 

 but also the bull and rattle snakes. They crawl over and between the 

 nude legs of the men, up their arms, etc., so that it often becomes 

 necessary to take them with the hand and lay them back. As the 

 number of reptiles increase it becomes more difficult to control them 

 and keep them on the small place assigned to them, and for a time the 

 men are kept very busy. The snakes, finding all their efforts to 

 escape frustrated, finally huddle together in the two corners. It is 

 simply appalling with what apparent unconcern those men handle the 

 reptiles. My notes of 1896, referring especially to the case of old 

 NQvakwahu, who was nearly blind, say: 



His eyesight is so poor that he could hardly see the pipes when 

 they were handed to him, and the men had to touch his hands with 

 the pipe before he would recognize its presence. I noticed several 

 times a number of snakes, and among them several rattlers, in front of 

 the old man, trying to get by him. He undoubtedly could see their 

 outlines on the sand, and several times I noticed that his neighbors 

 would draw his attention to them. Now and then he would slowly 

 but unhesitatingly stretch forth his hand, feeling, as it were, his way 

 among the snakes, before he could get a hold of them. Several times 

 I saw two or three rattlesnakes raise their heads and draw them back, 

 apparently in a threatening manner, when they saw the hand approach 

 them, so that I expected nothing but that they would strike at any 

 moment; and I must confess that the question so often asked, "What 

 antidote do the Indians use against snake bite?" seemed very insig- 

 nificant and of much less importance to me just then than the question, 

 "How is it possible that one of these snakes, that is taken hold of 

 again and again, and with such recklessness, does not strike, and that, 

 when from forty to fifty reptiles are confined on such a small space?" 

 In several instances I saw the snakes coiled at least partly and raise 

 their heads and draw them back, apparently ready to strike. 



The theory sometimes advanced, that the snakes are benumbed or 



