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chapter of Genesis. The enmity,' says an excellent American writer,* which has existed between mankind and the seed of the serpent has been, to the latter, a source of innumerable evils. Animals of this kind have ever been peculiarly hated and hunted, attacked and destroyed from the beginning. A war of extermination has plainly been declared against them, and carried on through all ages with unceasing animosity. In consequence of this hostility, millions of them have probably perished. And not a small number of the human race have fallen victims to those venomous creatures, and been wounded in the heel, the very part mentioned in the third chapter of Genesis."

"Is there any passage in the Scriptures

* Dr. Dwight.

which refers to serpents capable of illustration from Eastern customs?"

"Yes, Harry; there is one especially in the fifty-eighth Psalm, in which the writer says of the wicked, that they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.' Here seems to be a very evident allusion to a practice which is still common in the East. The cobra de capella, or hooded snake, is a large and beautiful serpent, but one of the most venomous; its bite generally proves mortal in less than an hour. It contracts, or enlarges its hood at pleasure. The centre of the hood is marked in black and white, like a pair of spectacles; on which account it is called the spectacle-snake.

"Of this kind are the dancing snakes, which are carried in baskets through Hindoostan,

and procure a maintenance for a set of people, who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which the snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful motion of the head; erecting about half their length from the ground, and following the music with gentle curves, like the undulating lines of the swan's neck. It is a well-attested fact, that when a house is infested by snakes of this kind, which destroy poultry and small domestic animals, the musicians are sent for, who, by playing on a flageolet, find out their hiding-places, and charm them to destruction; for, no sooner do the snakes hear the music, than they come softly from their retreat, and are easily taken." "What a surprising account this is! But do not the people sometimes get bitten?"

"I will tell you. When the music ceases, the snakes appear motionless; but if not im

mediately covered up in the basket, the spectators are liable to fatal accidents."

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"What, do they ever bite any body? If they do, I should rather not see them dance." "I will tell you. 'Among my drawings,' says Forbes in his Oriental Memoirs, is that of a cobra de capella, which danced for an hour on the table while I painted it; during which I frequently handled it, to observe the beauty of the spots, and especially the spectacles on the hood, not doubting but that its venomous fangs had been previously extracted. But the next morning, my upper servant came to me in great haste, and desired that I would instantly retire, and praise God for my good fortune. Not understanding his meaning, I told him that I had already performed my devotions. He then informed me, that whilst purchasing some fruit in the bazaar, he ob

served the man who had been with me on the preceding evening, entertaining the country people with his dancing snakes; they, according to their usual custom, sat on the ground around him; when, either from the music stopping too suddenly, or from some other cause irritating the vicious reptile, which I had so often handled, it darted at the throat of a young woman, and inflicted a wound of which she died in about half an hour."

"Forbes had a narrow escape !"

"Indeed he had.

Venomous serpents can

not but be dangerous playthings. Yet the practice is continued to this day. A very worthy and learned missionary, now in Calcutta, when at my house, assured me that the account I have now given you is correct.* He

* Mr. Yeates, author of an admirable Grammar of the Hindoostanee, and of several other excellent and learned works.