Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1894 — Easy When You Know How. [ARTICLE]

Easy When You Know How.

The secrets of snake-charming are much simpler than most people imagine. The snakes to be handled are gorged with food until they become! drowsy, or else they are drugged sb that their senses are dazed. Some-1 times they are kept in ice-boxes, and] the cold keeps them in a semi-torpid, condition. In either case the snakes are only half alive. In handling the reptile the hand must always grasp it at certain places where the head can be guided and held from the body.! This is the hardest thing to learn, but,! like everything else, It comes with 1 practice. In handling a reptile with 1 the fangs in—which ought to be prohibited by law—one requires great strength, as the strain on the system during the performance is very great. The grasp and movements must be precise and accurate. There is no room for hesitancy or uncertainty.