74 



OPHIDIAN EEPTILIi;S. 



curious spectacle ; being tlie Serpent 'clnefly used by snake- 

 charmers in these countries, terrible as it seems to us. 



The action of the snake-charmer is as follows : he takes in his 

 hand a root, the virtue of which is supposed to preserve him from 

 the venemous effects of the bite of the Cobra. Drawino- the 

 reptile from tlje cage in which he keeps it confined, he irritates 

 it by presenting a stick to it ; the animal immediately erects 

 the fore part of its bod}-, swells its neck, opens its jaws, ex- 

 tends its forked tongue, its eyes glitter, and it begins to hiss. 

 Then a sort of battle conrmences between the Serpent and the 



i 1 -H J Js jk 



Charmer; the latter, striking up a monotonous sort of son. 

 opposes his closed fist to his enemy, sometimes usinc. his ri'^hi 

 hand^and sometimes his left. The animal fixes it/ eves u^on 

 the fist whK-a threatens it, follows all its movements, 'balances 

 as head and body, and thus simulates a kind of dance. Dther 

 chanuers obtam from the Cobra an alternating and cadenced 

 movement oi the neck by the help of sounds which are drawn 



