SERPENT CHARMING. 253

which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith
the Lord.”

Serpent-charmers were formerly, and generally still are,
distinct tribes of men, in their different countries; the most
famous charmers of antiquity were the Psylli, a people of
Cyrenaica, whose power is attributed by Pliny to some par-
ticular odour in their persons, which was disliked by the
serpent. Lucan was of the same opinion; and he describes
the measures by which they cleared the Roman camp.
When the encampment was marked oat, they marched
round, chanting their charms, the mystic sound of which,
chased the serpents far away ; not trusting, however, to this,
they kept up large fires of different kinds of wood, the smell
of which prevented the serpents from approaching ; but if,
in spite of these precautions, any soldier was bitten, the
Psyili then exerted their powers to effect acure. The mea-
sures they employed for this purpose are so well. described
in the following lines from Lucan’s ‘ Pharsalia,’ that they
require no further illustration :—

“*Then sudden he begins the magic song,
And rolls the numbers hasty o’er his tongue ;
Swift he runs on, nor pauses once for breath,
To stop the progress of approaching death :