“By degrees the snake moves, extends itself, and then assumes an erect posture, but without quitting the basket. It begins to appear uneasy and endeavours to recognise its surroundings; it becomes agitated and irritated, expands and spreads out its hood, breathes hard rather than hisses, and frequently and quickly shoots out its slender forked tongue; several times it makes a violent dart as though to attack the juggler; it frequently trembles, or rather gives sudden starts. The juggler keeps his eyes always fastened upon the snake, and gazes at it with a singular fixed stare. After some time, about ten or twelve minutes, the Cobra becomes less animated, grows quiet, and then sways as though influenced by the slow and monotonous rhythm of the musician; it keeps incessantly darting out its tongue. Little by little it is brought to a sort of somnolent condition. Its eyes, which at first watched the juggler as though in order to take him by surprise, are, to a certain extent, fixed and fascinated by the latter’s gaze. The Hindu takes advantage of this moment of stupefaction on the part of the snake by approaching it slowly without ceasing to play, and touches the head of the Cobra, first with his nose and then with his tongue. Although this takes but an instant the reptile starts out of its sleep, and the juggler has barely time to throw himself backwards so as not to be struck by the snake, which makes a furious dart at him. “We doubt whether the Cobra still has it fangs, and whether the Hindu incurs any real danger in approaching it. Accordingly we promise our man a Spanish piastre if he will make the snake bite a couple of fowls. A black hen, which struggles violently, is taken and offered to the Cobra, which half rises, looks at the bird, bites it, and lets it go. The fowl is released and runs off terrified. Six-minutes later, by the watch, it vomits, stretches out its legs, and dies. A second fowl is placed in front of the snake, which bites it twice, and the bird dies in eight minutes.”[87] Certain jugglers exhibit snakes from which they have taken care to extract the fangs; they offer the animal a piece of cloth or soft stuff into which it drives its poison-teeth, and the fabric is then quickly snatched away in order by this means to break off the poison-fangs that have penetrated it. This operation is repeated at certain intervals with a view to preventing the reserve fangs from coming into use, and the reptiles can then be handled without any danger.