80 
RATTLE-SNAKE. 
tirely to fear, as they could not discover the slightest 
wound. Some time after this, a mouse which was 
alarmed by the same cause died in his hand after 
the snake was frightened away. 
Mr. Barton, professor of natural history in the 
university of Pennsylvania, has written a memoir 
upon this subject ; and after having examined the 
question with some care, he is of opinion that snakes 
have no particular fascinating property, and that the 
idea has probably originated in the anxious care of 
the old birds for the protection of their nests and 
young, who are themselves occasionally caught by 
the rattle-snake, while they are fluttering to divert 
his attention from their brood. 
