24C LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



and remarkable talents. They come out of the dark 

 night of their holes, when their self-chosen master's voice 

 is heard. They take flies from his hand; but, what is 

 the strangest of all, they actually learn to measure time; 

 for more than one well-authenticated instance speaks of 

 their having appeared only at stated times, when the 

 jailor was absent and all was safe. 



Vile, venomous serpents and their kin have an ear as 

 subtle as their tongue, and show a curious love of sweet 

 melodies and gentle words of affection. The hooded 

 snake, as many of us have seen in the East Indies, is 

 fierce and furious, when first captured. But the so-called 

 conjuror rouses her wrath still more by blows and threats ; 

 the next moment, however, the blandest words woo and 

 win her heart, and weave a charm which even the crafty 

 snake cannot resist. Anon he raises his hand as if to 

 strike ; she follows it with wistful eye and playing tongue. 

 It is a sight of strange, irresistible beauty, this combat 

 between man and serpent. Each watches with intense 

 attention the dusky Indian ready to strike with brutal 

 force, the cunning reptile waving in graceful curves, rais- 

 ing the strange spectacle-mark that surrounds her glitter- 

 ing eyes, and gathering venom for the fatal bite. But 

 man remains the master. Now with soothing words, and 

 now with soft caresses, he tames her fierce temper. Then 

 he calls in the aid of music, and soon the animal raises 

 her head as if in a rapture of enjoyment, and in a short 

 time learns to weave quick mazes in the air, to twist 

 and twine in most beauteous lines, and follow the master's 

 hand wherever it bids her. Pliny tells us of sons of the 



