IQ2 ON THE FASCINATING FACULTY 



Thefe objeftions will, I am perfuaded, be fufficient to 

 convince every unprejudiced reader, that the fyftem of ex- 

 planation offered by Mr. de la C^pede is unfounded in facts ; 

 and, confequently, that the problem ftill remains to be folved, 

 in another w ay. 

 Piofeflbr Blu- Among the number of ingenious men who have araufed 

 Sets'! 'b"'" themfelves with fpeculations on the fubjea of this memoir, 

 afcribes it to a and who, reje6ting the commonly received notion of the 

 moralcaufe, exiftence of a fafcinating power in the rattle-fnake, have 

 attempted to explain the phenomenon upon other principles, 

 it is with pleafure I recognize the refpedtable Profellor Blu' 

 menbacb, of Gotlingen. This gentleman, in a late publica- 

 tion, fpeaking of the rattle-fnake, makes a few remarks on 

 the fafcinating faculty which has been afcribed to this reptile. 

 Thefe remarks I fliall Iranflate at length. 



** That fquirrels, fmall birds, &c." fays he, " voluntarily fall 



from trees into the jaws of the rattle-fnake, lying under them, is 



certainly founded in fads: nor is this much to be wondered 



at, as fimilar phenomena have been obferved in other fpecies 



Toads, hawks, of ferpents, and even in toads, hawks, and in cats, all of 



&c. are faid t9 *^ ' ... ' 



have the power vvhich, to appearance, can under particular circumlrances, 

 of fafcinating by gnjice other fmall animals, by mere ftedfafl looks. Here the 

 ■ rattles of this fnake (the rattle-fnake) are of peculiar fervice ; 



for their biffing noife caufes the fquirrels, whether impelled 

 by a kind of curiofity, mifunderftanding, or dreadful fear, to 

 follow it, as it would feem, of their own accord. At leaft," 

 continues Mr. Blumenbach, " I know from well-informed 

 eye witneffes, that it is one of the common pradlices among 

 the younger favages to hide themfelves in the woods, and by 

 counterfeiting the hiffing of the rattle-fnake to allure and 

 catch the fquirrels."*. 



the taik. Inflead of flowly and cautioufly differing and examining 

 their ftru6lure and their fun£lions, with that attention which the 

 fubieft merits, I am more difpofed, at prefent, to obey the in- 

 junftion of the Mantuan poet, in the following beautiful lines ; 



■ ^Cape faxa manu : cape robora, partor, 



Tollentemque minas et fibila colla tumentem 

 Dijice; jamque fugatumidum caput abdidit alte. 

 Cum medii nexus, exftremacque agmina caudae 

 Solvuntur, tardofque trahit finus ultimus orbes. 



Georg. Lib. iii.420 — 424. 

 • Handbuch derNaturgefchichle, P, 253, Gcettingen : 1791. 



I do 



