CAWNPORE SNAKE CHARMERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 283, 22 April 1911, Page 10

CAWNPORE SNAKE CHARMERS.

Snake charming has, doubtless, been the subject of much exaggeration. So much so has this been the case that many people have ceased to believe that there is anything in it. If. however, we accept the account of some recent snake charming at Cawnpore, communicated by Mr. L. Ewart to the Field, it is a sufficiently astonishing performance. It is, of course, well known that the snakes carried about in baskets by the itinerant performers have had their fangs extracted, and. therefore, can be handled with impunity. But when a snake-charmer came to Mr. Ewart's compound the latter said he wished to see the charming of the serpent in its native haunts and with poison fangs intact.

After -omc persuasion the man was induced to go out and pipe for snakes, lie walked about for some lime playing his pipes, and talking to the snakes. Mustard was also strewed on the ground. At length a large cobra came out of the cactus hushes. The man made a dart to catch the reptile by the neck, but it was too quick for him", and bit his finger, Immediately he squeezed the blood out of his linger, applied the snakestone to the spot, and swallowed some white stuff. Then he seized the cobra by the tail, covered its head with a duster, and held it down with a stick. .Finally, it was put into the large earthenware jar and secured. Then the man was very ill for about 15 minutes. There is a curious mystery about the snakestone. According to Mr. Ewart, who seems to have watched the whole process very carefully, the stone swelled up and stuck fast to the finger. Then the. mini asked for a bowl of milk, over which he held his finger, and into which the stone dropped, producing some curious effects on tlie liquid. One would like to know more about this wonderful stone its nature, composition, etc. Is it natural or artificial? No stone which would thus swell up and stick to the fin«er is known to geologists. Quite possibly, however, the snakestone is merely a picturesque addition to round off the ceremony, and give it an air of mystery, while tlie snake-charmer really depends for his recovery on the squeezing out of the poison, and the white stuff swallowed. . „ , \nd on several occasions Mr. Kwart, saw a man bitten by a cobra, and using the same means, recover after being very ill If we accept the facts there seems no doubt as to the efficiency of the remedy, even if we cut off the snakestone as a picturesque excrescence. There are still many deaths from wake bites in India, and much time and money have been spent in searching for a remedy. Anti-toxins have been prepared, and methods of injection used with more or less success. We have not heard of any quite so promptly efficient as those of the Cawnpore snake-charmers described by Mr Ewart. Would it not be worth while to try and learn their secret? Do snakes really appreciate and respond to the music of the charmer? The cobra mentioned .above appeared to come out in response to the sound of the pipe, and Mr. Ewart saw tlie same thing repeated on several occasions. He also records an even more striking case._ A cobra had been captured and put ma hr Tt was taken out and put on the .''round. At first, when the snake-charm-er played to it the cobra was furious bisscu'and tried to strike at him. But Ihe piavev went on with his music, crouching on the ground and gradually advancing towards the cobra, which retreated It liept its head raised, but gradually became quiet, and appeared, savs Mr. Ewart. as if mesmerised. It swayed to the music, and made no further attempt at striking. Suddenly the man seized it by the neck, forced open its mouth, and extracted the poison fangs.