SERPENT WORSHIP, ' CHARMING; ETC. 527 



regards the knocking it proves sensitiveness to vibration 

 conveyed by the ground. The American Indians are experts 

 in the way of ascertaining sounds as conveyed by the ground. 

 They throw themselves prone upon the earth, pressing their 

 ear close to it, and are able to decide with great accuracy the 

 direction, the distance, and the nature of a far-off sound. 

 May we not conclude, then, that the perception of sound to 

 a serpent is through solids, a feeling more than a hearing of 

 noises } The creature, always prone to the ground or other 

 solids, and with an internal aural apparatus, must be peculiarly 

 sensitive to vibrations thus conveyed. 



'Lizzie,' the heroine of chap, xxvl., was proved to be 

 sensitive to disturbing noises, and her ophidian relatives are 

 probably similarly affected. As to time, any sharp sound 

 will answer; and as to time, it is not the 'music,' but, as we 

 have already hinted, the waving hand or knee, or bright 

 colours used by the charmers, to which the movements of 

 the serpents respond. This also is a subject quite worth 

 scientific investigation. 



A word in conclusion about the 'fascination of the 

 serpent's eye,' a fable of so remote a date that it is as hard 

 as any to eradicate. Even scientific observers admit that 

 there is a something that attracts the eyes of birds or small 

 mammals such as squirrels, timid creatures which often 

 stare fixedly at ourselves as much as at a snake. 

 Dr. A. Smith says : ' Whatever may be said in ridicule 

 of fascination, it is nevertheless true that birds and even 

 quadrupeds are, under certain circumstances, unable to 

 retire from the presence of their enemies, and what is even 

 more extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to 



