FASCINATION OF SERPENTS. 125 



stomachy which is by no means so large a receptacle 

 as the gullet : here it continues till the usual course 

 of digestion reduces it to chyle, which, goiiig ^^ ii^ the 

 natural way, affords room for the remaining part to 

 enter the stomach, and digest in like manner as the 

 former. 



The examination of this viper turned the conversa- 

 tion on the subject of serpents in general, and particu- 

 larly on the strange power that has often been attri- 

 buted to them, of fascinating their prey to that degree, 

 that, notwithstanding the dread that every creature 

 feels at the sight of their natural enemies, the prey of 

 the serpent tribe are said to approach their destroyers, 

 and even to go, by an irresistible impulse, into their 

 mouths. Some naturalists dispute the existence of 

 this power in the serpent, and imagine that fear occa- 

 sions this self-devotion of its prey ; whilst others sup- 

 pose that the maternal affection of birds induces the 

 old one to present herself to the ravager, with design 

 to withdraw his attention from her young, and, in 

 her anxiety for their safety, to venture incautiously so 

 far that she can no longer recede from the grasp of her 

 enemy. That this is not always the case, is proved 

 by an experiment mentioned in the Philosophical 

 Transactions. '' A viper-catcher, who had more than 

 sixty living vipers in a chest, put a living mouse in 

 among them. Now, it is well known that these crea- 

 tures never feed whilst in confinement, unless it be a 



