SNAKES. 193 



serpent-eater of the Cape, the kite, laughing 

 falcon, and buzzard, are their implacable enemies ; 

 while man wages incessant war against them 

 wherever he and they come in contact." 



Though the number of poisonous Serpents does 

 not amount to more than one-fifth of the whole, 

 the malignity of those causes the whole to be 

 looked on with aversion ; and as the means of 

 discrimination between the harmless and the 

 noxious are scarcely known to any but natural- 

 ists, it is considered safe to w^age a war of exter- 

 mination against the wdiole Order ; and a Snake 

 is therefore commonly killed, as a sort of duty, 

 wherever it can be met with. Yet it has been 

 showui that not only are the majority of species 

 harmless, but some (probably most) are capable 

 of being domesticated, and are susceptible of 

 personal affection. Professor Bell observes of our 

 British species, that ''it is easily tamed, and may 

 be made to distinguish those who caress and feed 

 it. I had one many years since, which knew me 

 from all other persons ; and, when let out of his 

 box, would immediately come to me, and crawl 

 under the sleeve of my coat, where he was fond 

 of lying perfectly still, and enjoying the warmth. 

 He was accustomed to come to my hand for a 

 draught of milk every morning at breakfast, 

 which he ahvays did of his own accord ; but he 

 would fly from strangers, and hiss if they meddled 

 with him." In the Dictionnaire (THistoire Na- 

 turelle, there is related an instance of a Snake 

 which had been so completely tamed by a lady, 

 as to come to her whenever she called it, to follow 

 her in her walks, writhe itself round her arms, 

 and sleep in her bosom. One day, when she 



o 



