f 1i ON THE RATTtE-SNAKE. 



Fafts and ob- American foreft is not the filent refidence of a few birds. 



fervations re- During the ereater part of the fpring and fummer months, 



fpeftipg the , i- -.i ,i r ■ c r j t 



power of fafci- our woods are auve with tne numerous Ipecies ot relident 



ration afcribed g^j vifitant birds. At thefe times, if the black-fnake pofTefles 

 the faculty of fafcinating, it cannot be a difficult thing for 

 him to procure his food. Yet, in the inftance which I have 

 juft related, we have feen this reptile climbing up a tree, 

 and there obliged to exert all his ingenuity to obtain his 

 prey. 



I cannot well conclude this memoir without obferving, 

 that in the inveftigation of the fubje6t which it involves, 

 I have experienced much pleafure. For to the cultivators 

 of fcience, the difcovery of truth mull, at all times, be a 

 fource of pleafure. This pleafure will even rife to fomething 

 like happinefs, when, in addition to the difcovery of truth, 

 we are enabled to draw afide the veil, which, for ages, has 

 curtained fuperftition and credulity. Under the influence 

 of various fpecies of fuperftition, we fail from our dignity, 

 and are often rendered unhappy. It Qiould be one of the 

 principal objefts of fcience to rear and prop the dignity of the 

 mind, and to fmooth its way to comforts, and to happinefs. 

 The ills and the infirmities of our earthly ftate of being are 

 numerous enough. It is folly, if not vice, to increafe them. 

 He who ferioufly believes, that an hideous reptile is gifted, 

 from the facred fource of univerfal life and good, with the 

 power of fafcinating birds, fquirrels, and other animals, will 

 hardly flop here. He may, and probably will, believe much 

 more. He will not, perhaps, think himfelf entirely exempted 

 from this wonderful influence. He may fuppofe, that the 

 property belongs to other beings, befides the ferpents j and 

 he will, perhaps, imagine that it forms a part of a more 

 extenfive plan, the effefls of which, he will aflfert, are pro- 

 minent, and unequivocal, though its ways, he will confefs, 

 are incomprehenfible to mortal minds. 



Jlifioria naturalh non bene digejla ahit in fahulam ; prajudicia 

 vero et nimia credulitas Veritatem, etfi cominus fatis cosnitam, 

 longiffime aliquando propellunt. 



JACOBUS THEODORUS KLEIN. 



Some 



