264 



ON SYMPATHY AND FASCINATION. 



shrieks of distress, he shot the serpent before the bird had reached it ; stili, 

 however, the bird did not fly, and on taking it up, it was aheady dead, 

 being killed either by fear or by the fascinating influence of the^ serpent, 

 although upon measuring the ground he found the space between them * 

 to be not less than three feet and a half. 



M. Acrell, in a very interesting paper upon this subject in the Swedish 

 Amoenitates Academicae,* contends that the coluber Berus^ or common 

 viper, is in some degree endowed with the same fascinating power as the 

 rattlesnake. And there is a case much in point inserted in one of the 

 early volumes of the Philosophical Transactions, which states that a mouse, 

 put by way of experiment, into a cage in which a female viper was con- 

 fined, appeared at first greatly agitated, and was afterwards seen to draw 

 near to the viper gradually, which continued motionless, but with fixed 

 eyes and distended mouth, and at length entered into its jaws, and was 

 devoured. 



There is, in truth, a secret kind of influence, but whether of the same 

 kind or distinct from it, we have no means of ascertaining, which other ani- 

 mals possess on particular occasions, and which is even in some cases pos- 

 sessed by man, and is known to disarm the fury of the most enraged or 

 vicious quadrupeds. This is pecuharly seen at times in the case of watch- 

 dogs, over whom some house-breakers have found out the secret of exer- 

 cising so seductive and quieting a power, as to keep them in a profound 

 silence while the burglary is committed. M. Lindecrantz, another inte- 

 resting writer in the Amcenitates Academicje of Sweden, tells us that the 

 natives of Lapland and Dalarne are in possession of this secret generally, 

 insomuch that they can instantly disarm the most furious dog, and oblige 

 him to fly from them with all his usual signs of fear, such as dropping his 

 tail, and suddenly becoming silent. t 



Grooms are sometimes found possessed of a similar power over horses. 

 Mr. Townsend, a clergyman of excellent character, and considerable learn- 

 ing, has a striking anecdote to this eflect, in his account of James Sullivan, 

 a native of the county which forms the subject of his pen. The man, an 

 awkward, ignorant rustic of the lowest class, was by profession a horse- 

 breaker, and generally nicknamed the whisperer^ from its being vulgarly 

 supposed that he obtained his influence over unruly horses by whispering 

 to them. The actual secret of his fascinating power he kept entirely to 

 himself, and it has died with him. His son, who is in the same occupa- 

 tion, knows nothing of it. But it was well known to every one that, how- 

 ever unbroken or vicious a horse, or even a mule, might be when brought 

 to him, in the short space of half an hour he became altogether passive 

 under his influence, and was not only entirely gentle and tractable, but itt 

 a very considerable degree continued so, though somewhat more submis- 

 sive to himself than to others. There was a little mystery in his plan, but 

 unquestionably no deceit. When sent for to tame an unruly horse, he 

 ordered the stable door to be shut upon himself and the animal alone, and 

 not to be opened till a given signal. This singular intercourse usually 

 lasted for al30ut half an hour ; no bustle was heard, or violence seeminglf 

 had recourse to : but when the door was opened on the proper sign being 

 given, the horse was always seen lying down, and the fascinator by his 

 F?ide, playing with him familiarly Jls a child with a puppy. I once," says 



* Vol, vi. No. 112. Morsura Scrpentum, 1762. 

 t Vol. iv. No. 53. Canis Familiaris, 1758. 



