SNAKE-CHARMING. A popular form of amusement which has existed in Egypt and throughout the East from remote antiquity. There are several allusions to serpent-charming in the Old Testament. and many classical writers refer to it. Serpent-charmers ascribe their power over snakes to some constitutional peculiarity, and the profession is handed down in a family from one generation to another. It is generally supposed that the poisonous snakes used for the purpose have had their fangs and even the poison glands removed. The assertion that snake charmers are immune from the poison of such snakes as the cobra or the rattlesnake is not credited by authorities, and the stories told about the effective use for this purpose by American Indians of certain herbs are not credited by sci entific observers. See COBRA RATTLESNAKE.
Certain feats of the snake-charmer depend upon his knowledge of the nature and peculiari ties of the reptile. Many species have a liking for music; to the sound of the flute they will rise from the basket and sway the upper part of the body, while it rests upon the spiral formed by the lower half. The asp has no ex
ternal ear. and is certainly deaf as to whistling or the sound of the pipe. hut the charmer knows that the snake's glance can be attracted to a moving object and will follow the rhythmical movement. Thus the snake, while seeming to be charmed by the music, or to be ruled by the eye, is in reality swaying to the moving hand of the performer. Exceedingly interesting is the ancient trick of spitting down the snake's mouth, shut ting it, and then laying the snake on the ground in a cataleptic state, or turning it into a stick. Such a transformation of the asp (naja-haje) into a staff is possible tln•ough its liability to cramps; when the muscles of the neck back of the head are strongly compressed or water is thrown upon them they become rigid. The East ern snake-charmer is reputed to have the power of removing serpents from gardens and the vicin ity of houses by luring them out of their holes by means of magic words and music.