198 On the faf etna ting Faculty afcribed to 



I fhall conclude this part of my letter with two obferva- 

 tions; viz. ift, If it be a faft, as I have aflertetl, that the 

 rattlefnake, while watching for his prey, feldom moves his 

 rattle, the ftory related by major Gardner muft, independ- 

 ently on any other fafts, appeiir highly improbable. 2dly, 

 Even admitting the fa6l, that the rattlefnake does fliake his 

 rattle while employed in the fuppofed aft of charming, I 

 think the greater number of the favourers of the exiftence 

 of a fafcinating quality in this ferpent ought, upon a careful 

 confideration of ihe fubjeft, to give up Mr. Blumenbach's 

 explanation of the bufinefs. They tellyou that the bird or 

 fquirrel is often feen precipitating iifclf from the top of a 

 lofty tree into the jaws of theA.'rpent lying at the bottom. 

 Now, is it likely that the noife of the rattle can be dilUn6tly 

 heard at the diiiance of fixty, eighty, or a hundred feet, in 

 a foreft where all elfe is not filcnce ; in .1 foreft where rooks, 

 and ravens, and jays, wood-peckers, and many other fpecies 

 of birds, utter their various cries or notes, which are mixed, 

 and often confounded, with the noife of tree-frogs, locufts, 

 and a hundred other animals ? I think, fir, you will admit 

 with me, that it is very improbable, if not impoflible, that 

 the rattle could affefl; the bird at fuch a diftance; and I am 

 difpofed to believe, that, after reading the preceding obferva- 

 tions, you will not think Mr. Blumenbach's fyftem is fo ca- 

 pable of being maintained as that ingenious gentleman feems 

 to fuppofe it is. 



Mr. Blumenbach, in taking notice of my theory of ac- 

 counting for the fuppofed falcinatintj p-wer of lerpent?, in- 

 forms, us, that with this method of explaining the pheeno- 

 menon he has been acquainltd fince 17^5, from an eflfay by 

 profeffor Michaclis, in the Giittingen Ahigazine for .January 

 of that vear. In iufiicc to Dr. Michaelis, I ihall here quote 

 his words, as they are given bv Mr. Blumenliach : — " Others 

 believe that it is owing merely to the care of the old ones for 

 their young, which throw thcmfelves between the latter and 

 their enemies, and by thefe means become a prey to them. 

 One of my friend«, Mr. David Golden, at Flufliing, an 

 amateur- of natural hiftory, and fon of governor Golden, 

 whofe fervicc to fcience is ib well known, affured me that he 

 had feveral times fceii birds fafcinated by fnakes, but always 

 found the ned of the bird either with eggs or young ones in 

 the neighbouvhood ; which made the fpec^ators trive up the 

 ideaof fafcination. But," Mr. Michaelis adds, " 1 knowfome 

 inltances where no neft could be in the neighbourhood, and 

 where, though the fnakc was at firft at a great diiiance from 

 the bird, it neverlhclefs fell towards it." 



From 



