SNAKE CHARMERS. 69 
fields. It is the serpent chiefly used by snake-charmers, terribly fatal 
as its bite is known to be. 
The action of the snake-charmer is as follows: he takes in his 
hand a root, the virtue of which is supposed to preserve him from the 
venomous effects of the bite of the Cobra. Drawing the reptile from 
Fig. 17.~Cobra di Capella. 
the cage in which he keeps it confined, he irritates it by presenting a 
_ stick to it; the animal immediately erects the fore part of its body, 
+ swells its neck, opens its jaws, extends its forked tongue, its eyes glitter, 
and it begins to hiss. ‘Then a sort of battle commences between 
the serpent and the charmer ; the latter, striking up a monotonous 
sort of song, opposes his closed fist to his enemy, sometimes using 
his right hand and sometimes his left (PLatE I.) The animal fixes 
‘its eyes upon the fist which threatens it, follows all its movements, 
