THE BRUISED SERPENT 181 
lingers in North America, and is strong in some 
places where the serpents, used in religious serpent 
dances, unlike those of Madagascar, are venomous, 
and it has not yet wholly died out in Europe. The 
Finns have a great regard for the adder. 
It may be added here that there are many 
authenticated instances of children becoming at- 
tached to snakes and making pets of them. The 
solution of a question of this kind is sometimes 
to be found in the child-mind. My experience is 
that when young children see this creature, its 
strange appearance and manner of progression, so 
unlike those of other animals known to them, 
affect them with amazement and a sense of mys- 
tery, and that they fear it just as they would fear 
any other strange thing. Monkeys are doubtless 
affected in much the same way, although, in a 
state of nature, where they inhabit forests abound- 
ing with the larger constrictors and venomous tree- 
snakes, it is highly probable that they also possess 
a traditional fear of the serpent form. It would be 
strange if they did not. The experiment of pre- 
senting a caged monkey with a serpent carefully 
wrapped up in paper and watching his behaviour 
when he gravely opens the parcel, expecting to 
find nothing more wonderful than the familiar 
sponge-cake or succulent banana—well, such an 
experiment has been recorded in half a hundred 
important scientific works, and out of respect to 
one’s masters one should endeavour not to smile 
when reading it. 
