THE LIVING WORLD. 
i93 
attacks. The natives therefore regard the reptile that once received the favor 
of their deity as being too sacred for molestation. 
The cobra's bite is so venomous that very few ever recover, and those so 
fortunate as to survive are left subject to recurring pains of excruciating severity. 
If no immediate antidote is applied or given, the whole system becomes affected, 
the blood seems to congeal, and the body bloats to great proportions until death 
intervenes, which , is usually within three hours. To this dreadfully venomous 
character is added a most wicked disposition, for the cobra will ordinarily attack 
on small provocation, and will almost instantly kill any other species of snake that 
may be confined with it. 
EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON SERPENTS. 
The curious structure, singular markings, deadly character, and wondrous 
superstitions which conspire to lend remarkable interest to the creature, are util¬ 
ized by Hindoo jug¬ 
glers and snake- 
charmers most profit¬ 
ably. It is a strange 
fact, not less difficult 
to understand than 
the accepted science 
of mesmerism, that 
music exerts a fas¬ 
cinating power over 
many creatures, and 
sensibly and power¬ 
fully on the cobra. 
Sometimes, it is 
true, the fangs of 
these performing 
reptiles are drawn, 
but not always, nor 
by any save what we 
may designate as the 
counterfeits, or im¬ 
postors. Those who 
have studied thor- 
oughly the habits and disposition of this snake are able to handle it with 
impunity, and to seemingly make if. dance to their pipings. Thus may be seen 
in every part of India Hindoos going about from place to place with baskets 
filled with cobras. Wherever an audience seems promising the baskets are 
deposited, music of pipe, tambour and drum starts up, at which the snakes 
crawl forth of their own volition, and go writhing among the charmers. 
Concerning the influence of music on serpents, a distinguished authority 
thus writes: „ , , . . 
“The incantation of serpents is one of the most curious and interesting 
facts in Natural History. This wonderful art, which disarms the fury and soothes 
the wrath of the deadliest snake, and renders it obedient to the charmer s voice, 
is not an invention of modern times; for we discover manifest traces of it in 
'3 
INDIA SERPENT CHARMERS. 
