FASCINATION. 263 



Mr. E. C. Buck, B.C.S., says in 'Nature' (vol. viii., 

 p. 303) :— 



I have witnessed exactly a similar plan pursued by a large 

 number of Ganges crocodiles, which had been lying or swimming 

 about all day in front of my tent, at the mouth of a small stream 

 which led from some large inland lakes to the Ganges. Towards 

 dusk, at the same moment every one of them left the bank on 

 which they were lying, or the deep water in which they were 

 swimming, and formed a line across the stream, which was 

 .a,bout twenty yards wide. They ha.d to form a double line, as 

 there was not room for all in a single line. They then swam 

 slowly up the shallow stream, driving the fish before them, and 

 I saw two or three fish caught before they disappeared. 



An account of reptile psychology would be incomplete 

 without some reference to the alleged facts of snakes 

 charming other animals by ' fascination,' and being them- 

 selves charmed by the arts of music, &c. The testimony 

 on both subjects is conflicting, and especially with regard 

 to the fascination of other animals by snakes. Thus : — 



Mr. Pennant says that this snake (rattle-snake) will fre- 

 quently lie at the bottom of a tree on which a squirrel is seated. 

 He fixes his eyes on the animal, and from that moment it can- 

 not escape ; it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known 

 that a passer-by, on hearing it, immediately knows that a snake 

 is present. The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes 

 down again, then goes up, and afterwards comes still lower. 

 The snake continues at the bottom of the tree with its eyes 

 fixed on the squirrel, and his attention is so entirely taken up, 

 that a person accidentally approaching may make a considerable 

 noise without so much as the snake turning about. The squirrel 

 comes lower, and at last leaps down to the snake, whose mouth 

 is already distended for its reception. Le Yaillant confirms 

 this fascinating terror by a scene he witnessed. He saw on the 

 branch of a tree a species of shrike, trembling as if in convul- 

 sions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another branch, 

 a large snake that was lying with outstretched neck and fiery 

 eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal. The agony of the bii-d 

 was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away; 

 and when one of the party killed the snake, it (i.e. the bird) was 

 found dead upon the spot— and that entirely from fear; for, 

 on examination, it appeared not to have received the slightest 

 wound. The same traveller adds that a short time afterwards 



