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. 



