August, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
373 
THE 
WISDOM OF THE 
SERPENT 
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 346) 
they all instantly yield? Was it possi- 
ble that some peculiar odor emanated 
from the body immediately after death 
which drew them there? Had one 
among their number accidently discov- 
ered the death of its progenitor and, 
deeply depressed by the calamity, hast- 
ily conveyed the sad intelligence to the 
brother and sister snakes scattered up 
and down the island, summoning them 
to gather at once around the corpse to 
perform the last sad rites. Or was it 
by the exercise of some power of spirit- 
ual telepathy, possessed by serpents, as 
well as by some wise men, that the liv- 
ing members of the family were to view 
the body of the dead? 
Of the three things recorded, how- 
ever, in this little story, this one is al- 
together of the least importance. Why 
did they all assume, independent of 
their size or length, positions identical 
with each other? The striking regu- 
larity of their attitudes was very re- 
markable. The various heads, whether 
big or little, being about equally dis- 
tant from each other, and also from the 
mother snake. 
The most striking feature of the 
whole scene, however, and the one 
which gave the most food for thought, 
was the seemingly hypnotic condition of 
the whole group of snakes, and the fact 
that they remained in that unconscious 
condition right through to the end, even 
to being killed without indicating any 
intention of escaping. When it is con- 
sidered that all these three conditions 
were carried out absolutely in the same 
way, and to the same extent by all the 
eight snakes, notwithstanding their dif- 
ference in size and age, it opens up a 
wide theme for investigation. 
The term “Whimsical Goddess” as ap- 
plied by Mr. Sass could not be used 
here. Some great undiscovered law 
must have controlled all their actions. 
What was that law? In one respect 
only does it resemble the naturalist’s 
case, and even in this there is a differ- 
ence. If it is the law that poisonous 
snakes will not attack a man unless 
previously attacked, why was it that the 
second one hidden away in the bushes, 
should be induced to enter the conflict? 
If the death of one member of a family 
was, in some inexplicable way, con- 
veyed to the others, would it not also be 
conveyed, in the same way, to the fam- 
ily of the Moccasin, when, as it ap- 
peared, the comrade snakes were in 
close proximity instead of being scat- 
tered far afield? 
Yet how was it that only one re- 
sponded instead of all? Is it possible 
that the Moccasins possess the power of 
discrimination? In the one instance the 
parent snake had been sacrified. In the 
other only a sister or a brother, and was 
it the exclusive right of the companion 
snake to protect its mate? 
Although the special pleading of a 
“Whimsical Goddess” might apply in 
the one case, it could not in the other 
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