THE POWER OF FASCINATION 139 



faculties is an instance of moral failure in what, up 

 till then, has been a series of reasoned acts. 



All weaker creatures pay intense attention to the ap- 

 pearance of a natural enemy. Their first impulse is to 

 watch it most intently. Deer, hares, and birds all do 

 this. Concurrently with this watching impulse is that 

 of standing absolutely still. In some cases this develops 

 into crouching, or "sitting" motionless, so that the 

 creature may, while never taking its eye off its enemy, 

 be at the same time invisible. Paralysis of faculties 

 often so far accompanies this attitude that the creature, 

 in its intense apprehension of one danger, becomes 

 oblivious of another. A mountain hare, for instance, 

 watching an eagle, has allowed itself to be picked up 

 by the hand. 



The extra "voltage" of fear engendered by the 

 horror of the serpent would be sufficient, when exer- 

 cised on the nerves of highly sensitive creatures like 

 the smaller birds, so to strain the first series of reason- 

 able acts of watching, immobility, and crouching, that 

 the final logical act, that of flight when discovered, is 

 impossible, the will-power having broken down. The 

 converse of this feeling in the hunted may sometimes 

 be seen in the hunter. Very well-bred pointers have 

 so elaborated the point, which was originally the pause 

 to determine exactly where the bird or hare was sitting, 

 that they often cannot be induced to " break " it and 

 move on to flush the game. 



It is not difficult to guess why some dangerous 

 animals induce this paralysing fear in their prey, while 

 others do not. It varies largely in proportion to 



