SERPENT WORSHIP, 'CHARMING,' ETC. 515 



for ' snake charming,' like snake worship, dates back to the 

 very earh'est ages. With a more intimate knowledge of the 

 reptilian class which modern zoology has brought about, 

 comes happily a clearer insight into the tricks of the snake- 

 men, jugglers, and charmers of Egypt and the East. Snake- 

 taming to-day is not confined to Saadecs and Samp 



Wallahs ; it is not even confined to non-venomous snakes, 

 of which pythons have always proved very amenable pets. 

 Mr. Mann's tame pythons (see ' Introduction ') were popular 

 performers at the time they were introduced in Chancery, and 

 his pet constrictor, * Cleo,' was honoured with an obituary 

 notice from the pen of Mr. Frank Buckland, in Land and 



Water, after she died 'of grief,' as was said, at the illness 

 of her master.^ The amiable ' Cleo ' (or Cleopatra) was the 

 'constant companion' of Mr. and Mrs. Mann for several 

 years, and they soon learned her wishes when she ' asked * 

 for either food, drink, or fresh air. ' A short time before her 

 death she contracted a friendship for a young kitten,' was 

 always ' fond of children,' who displayed no fear of that 

 sociable ophidian. But she was shy of strangers ; and this 

 I myself realized on paying my respects to her ; for not 

 until she was fully convinced that I had no evil intentions, 

 and not without much coaxing and persuasion on the part of 

 her guardians, could Cleo be induced to approach me. 



Several of the constricting snakes at the Zoological 

 Gardens of even larger size than Cleo are exceedingly tame, 

 permitting themselves to be handled. One of them, a 

 temporary inmate during the winter of 1881-82, was 

 introduced to the public by Dr. Stradling through the 



^ See Land and Water, June loth, 1876, 



