*88i.J 
and their “ Cracking” 
395 
larger beasts of prey, and with many serpents. I have read, 
on doubtful authority, of a Brazilian snake which — instead 
of being either repelled or stupefied by a fire kindled in the 
forests — endeavours to extinguish it by knocking the burning 
sticks asunder. 
Another puzzling phenomenon is the alleged fascination 
exercised by serpents, to which some men are even said to 
have found themselves subject. The fadts here have been 
called in question. Still a number of witnesses, generally 
trustworthy, tell us that they have seen birds, frogs, squir- 
rels, &c., remain as if paralysed on the approach of a serpent, 
and in some cases even rush into its jaws. Some persons 
declare that they have been unpleasantly affedted by the 
cold, fixed, stony glare of a serpent’s eyes, and have felt a 
kind of torpor steal over them which it required a strong 
effort of the will to overcome. Experimentally I have re- 
peatedly fixed my eyes on those of serpents, but have felt 
nothing of the sensation above mentioned. One element, 
however, was wanting to make the experiment complete : I 
felt no mysterious dread of the serpents. 
Not alone snakes, however, but many predatory ani- 
mals, are said sometimes to paralyse their intended prey 
by a fixed gaze, though here, too, decisive cases are 
wanting. 
In a very similar manner the fixed gaze of the human eye 
has unquestionably a peculiar effedt upon many animals, — 
such as lions, tigers, leopards, &c., — and has often deterred 
them from making an attack. Dr. Beard refers to the case 
of a “ lion-tamer ” who was accidentally torn to pieces by a 
leopard during one of those foolish and reprehensible per- 
formances which prove, by their popularity, that the taste 
for the games of the old Roman circus is by no means absent 
in this virtuous community. We come as near to them as 
the law allows, hoping in our heart of hearts that some 
accident will supply that little soupgon of blood which seems 
to complete the relish craved for by the multitude. 
To what species this deterrent effedt of the human eye 
extends is a point not yet determined. I doubt whether it 
would have any effedt upon a bear, a wild boar, a Cape 
buffalo, or a gorilla. Certainly it has no adtion upon that 
semi-human being the British rough, at least when assembled 
in a group. Men of the world generally agree that one of 
the most essential precautions to escape injury, when meeting 
a gang of such ruffians in a lonely place, is to avoid catching 
the eye of any of them. 
We are naturally reminded here of the superstition of the 
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