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Article ON THE FASCINATING POWER OF SERPENTS. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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On The Fascinating Power Of Serpents.
France , having had occasion to talk with Bianchot upon the subject , an officer who succeeded Bouffiers in the government of Senegal , he assuie-I me with confidence , that both at Goree and in Senegal , the opinion was universal ; that ascending the river of that name , as far even as Galam , three hundred leagues from its mouth , it equally prevailed among the Moors , at the right , and the Negroes , at the left ; that these le nobod
among peop y doubted this power in certain species of serpents , of fascinating both animals and men ; and that the tradition was founded upon long experience , aud the many misfortunes they are continually witnessing . - ,. - Here again let it be remembered , that I am only the historian , and that I take upon me neither to validate nor explain these reports
. With respect to the two instances I have adduced , and of which I am at once the recorder and the evidence , they will probably be regarded by many of my readers , as the pure effect of that extreme and involuntary terror - which every animal experiences by instinct , at si ght of an enemy that has power over its life ; and they will allege , perhaps , in support of this supposition , the example of the setter ' who retains in
their place a partridge or a hare , by the mere circum- * stance of his presence and look . To this I reply , that if a partridge or a hare remain quiet before the dog , it , s not so much from a sudden impulse of fear as from deliberate cunning . ' While close upon the ground they imagine themselves to be concealed from the enemy . What confirms this conjecture isthat if the
, dog approaches near enough to seize upon his pre } ' , the bird instantly takes wing , and the hare scampers away . It willcertainly not be denied me , that it is fear which makes them fly . Such is the powerful effect of instinct in every animal at the appearance of danger . But wh y do not the hare and partridge , at sig htof the dogremain fixed and motionless with terrorlike the shrike
, , and the mouse in presence of the serpent ? Why should fear give to the former new strength , while the others die on the spot , under all the increasing symptoms of agony , and without the power of escaping , as if retained by some invincible force ? The rat does not remain '
stationary upon the approach of the cat , but hastens away the ' moment he perceives her . May not then the look and presence of a serpent , and the nature of the corpuscles that emanate from its body , produce a very different effect from the emanation and look of the cat ? How few are our opportunities of observing nature ? Let us stud y her closeland shall find
more y , we perhaps , that she has many particular laws of which we are yet i gnorant . Before the discovery ' of electricity , had an author ventured to assert that there existed fish , which , though small in themselves , could give to a humber of persons at once so violent a shock , as to make them feel particular pain in all the articulations of the bod } -, the assertion would have been regarded as the most absurd fable . This supposed fable , however , is become " an indisputable truth . Without speaking of the torpedo , with which " every body is acquainted , I shall content myself with citing , in proof
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Fascinating Power Of Serpents.
France , having had occasion to talk with Bianchot upon the subject , an officer who succeeded Bouffiers in the government of Senegal , he assuie-I me with confidence , that both at Goree and in Senegal , the opinion was universal ; that ascending the river of that name , as far even as Galam , three hundred leagues from its mouth , it equally prevailed among the Moors , at the right , and the Negroes , at the left ; that these le nobod
among peop y doubted this power in certain species of serpents , of fascinating both animals and men ; and that the tradition was founded upon long experience , aud the many misfortunes they are continually witnessing . - ,. - Here again let it be remembered , that I am only the historian , and that I take upon me neither to validate nor explain these reports
. With respect to the two instances I have adduced , and of which I am at once the recorder and the evidence , they will probably be regarded by many of my readers , as the pure effect of that extreme and involuntary terror - which every animal experiences by instinct , at si ght of an enemy that has power over its life ; and they will allege , perhaps , in support of this supposition , the example of the setter ' who retains in
their place a partridge or a hare , by the mere circum- * stance of his presence and look . To this I reply , that if a partridge or a hare remain quiet before the dog , it , s not so much from a sudden impulse of fear as from deliberate cunning . ' While close upon the ground they imagine themselves to be concealed from the enemy . What confirms this conjecture isthat if the
, dog approaches near enough to seize upon his pre } ' , the bird instantly takes wing , and the hare scampers away . It willcertainly not be denied me , that it is fear which makes them fly . Such is the powerful effect of instinct in every animal at the appearance of danger . But wh y do not the hare and partridge , at sig htof the dogremain fixed and motionless with terrorlike the shrike
, , and the mouse in presence of the serpent ? Why should fear give to the former new strength , while the others die on the spot , under all the increasing symptoms of agony , and without the power of escaping , as if retained by some invincible force ? The rat does not remain '
stationary upon the approach of the cat , but hastens away the ' moment he perceives her . May not then the look and presence of a serpent , and the nature of the corpuscles that emanate from its body , produce a very different effect from the emanation and look of the cat ? How few are our opportunities of observing nature ? Let us stud y her closeland shall find
more y , we perhaps , that she has many particular laws of which we are yet i gnorant . Before the discovery ' of electricity , had an author ventured to assert that there existed fish , which , though small in themselves , could give to a humber of persons at once so violent a shock , as to make them feel particular pain in all the articulations of the bod } -, the assertion would have been regarded as the most absurd fable . This supposed fable , however , is become " an indisputable truth . Without speaking of the torpedo , with which " every body is acquainted , I shall content myself with citing , in proof