s. I now proceed to describe the peculiarities shewn
by the animals on which we experimented. Some philosophers have denied
innate ideas to man; these and some others have furthermore denied an
instinctive apprehension of danger in animals. They say that of itself,
as born, the hare has no dread of the hound: that its fear is acquired
of experience. I concur in neither of these opinions, and think the
latter altogether refuted by the conduct of the animals exposed to
serpents in these experiments. Not one of the guinea-pigs or rabbits
(which were all something under their full growth) had ever seen a
serpent; yet when introduced to the cage they shewed unequivocal
symptoms of distress and fear. In some instances they actually screamed
before they were struck. They generally shewed restlessness at first,
but when the serpent, intending to strike, poised himself in front, they
became for a time, if not altogether, motionless. Is there such a thing
as 'fascination?' If by this is meant a pleasurable paralysis of the
animal's powers, I think it more than doubtful; but a deprivation of
the power of motion from terror may, perhaps, take place. All, however,
that I speak to is a perfectly motionless condition of snake and prey,
lasting several minutes."[172]

Nor are there wanting examples of the same power exercised by the common
Snake of our own country. I content myself with the following two, both
of very recent record:--

"Up the hill above Tyneham," writes the Rev. Henry Bond, last August,
"towards the sea, I was struck by the shrill cry and fluttering
agitation of a common hedge-sparrow, in a whitethorn bush. Regardless of
my presence, its remarkable motions were continued, getting, at every
hop from bough to bough, lower and lower down in the bush. Drawing
nearer, I saw a common snake coiled up, but having its head erect,
watching the sparrow; the moment the snake saw me it glided away, and
the sparrow flew off with its usual mode of flight."[173]

This anecdote brings out another by Mr John Henry Belfrage, of Muswell
Hill:--"When proceeding down the avenue here one morning, at a turn in
the path I saw a robin, which appeared to me spell-bound, so much so as
to allow a much closer approach than is usual even with that boldest of
the feathered tribe. On going nearer I perceived what I took to be the
cause, in a large common snake, which was lying coiled up on one side of
the path, with its head a little raised. My app