SERPENT WORSHIP, ' CHARMING^ ETC. 529 



branch or a log was animated with a hungering after them- 

 selves. 



Any further ' spell/ or ' fascination/ or attraction might 

 be attributed to a soporific or paralytic rather than a 

 pleasurable influence ; and arising from the noxious breath 

 of a venomous serpent, or the fixity of its eyes, never blink- 

 ing. Horses, dogs, and other animals have an intuitive 

 perception of the vicinity of a snake, and refuse to advance ; 

 is it therefore reasonable to conclude that the lesser animals 

 are not similarly affected ? It is serpent nature to wait 

 motionless for its prey. Any creature coming unexpec- 

 tedly upon that rigid object, with its fixed, glittering eyes, 

 would, actuated by mingled alarm and curiosity,- stop to 

 make itself acquainted with the extraordinary sight, the only 

 life or motion in which would be the tongue suddenly and 

 silently appearing and disappearing. A bird might be 

 beguiled within striking distance, or might stop spell-bound. 

 We ourselves are sometimes impelled to approach an 

 unaccountable yet terrifying object. Fear has also a 

 paralyzing effect, and we remain motionless, breathless, with 

 eyes as fixed as a serpent's. 



Observation of nature and an inquiry into causes will 



often present very commonplace reasons for what appears 



to savour of the marvellous. A snake has just made a meal 



of some fledgelings. The mother bird has witnessed her 



offspring vanishing by degrees, and she frantically hovers 



over the reptile, fluttering to and fro, and probably uttering 



cries of distress or of enticement, in the hope of her young 



ones' return. Birds have been observed thus endeavouring 



to rescue a half-swallowed fledgeling. The naturalist at once 



2 L 



