1869-71 
A HAPPY NEW YEAR 
215 
that “ serpent-charming ” was not conducted 
under circumstances favourable to a rational or 
scientific explanation of the process ; that, on the 
contrary, it was attended, like other marvels 
which dread the light, with purposive obstruc- 
tions to fair and accurate observations ; and, 
finally, that it was a rude mode of conjuring, in 
which the snake, professed to be charmed out of 
a hole in the wall, was concealed upon the person 
of the conjuror, and transferred by sleight of arm 
and hand to the floor of the room alleged to have 
been infested.’ 
At the close of 1871 Owen received the 
following letter from one of his oldest friends. 
Thomas Bell : — 
From Thomas Bell to Richard Oiven 
December 27, 1871. 
‘ I find as I get on further and further towards 
the close of life that I feel more and more drawn 
to those whom I have most and longest esteemed, 
and, as there are few whom I have known longer 
and none whom I have more esteemed than 
yourself, I feel impelled to offer you my best and 
most cordial wishes for a happy and peaceful new 
year. Amidst the jarring and discordant ele- 
ments of which the present scientific atmosphere 
is almost exclusively composed, it is a relief to 
bring oneself into contact with such men as your- 
