452 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



an opinion that it was highl}? improbable that a plant belonging to 

 the Labiates would prove to be a specific for snake-poisoning, and 

 suggested that some trustworthy evidence of its value should be 

 obtained before he undertook an analysis. In June of the same 

 year, Dr. C. Joynt, the Civil Surgeon, reported the following 

 rase: — "A sepoy, aged 27, was admitted on the night of the 29th. 

 Liquor ammoniae was applied to the wound after incising ; next 

 morning there was haemorrhage from the wound, and also free 

 haemorrhage from the gums and tongue, the blood escaping had a 

 bright arterial hue. A scruple of the root was ordered three times a 

 day. The first dose decidedly relieved the vertigo which he com- 

 plained of, and next day there was a marked diminution in the 

 haemorrhage from gums and tongue, which entirely ceased on the 

 fourth day. No other medicine was given." Dr. Joynt remarked : — 

 "The employment of the root in this case appears to have been 

 singularly beneficial, and to deserve further investigation." 



Unfortunately Dr. Joynt left Ratnagiri shortly afterwards and 

 was unable to continue his investigations. In the Annual Report of 

 the Hatnagiri Police Hospital for the year 1873-74 the following 

 remarks by Dr. E. H. R. Langley, the Civil Surgeon, occur : — 



" Snake-bites furnished two cases ; these injuries were caused by 

 snakes called ' Phursa' by the natives (Echis carinata of ophiologists). 

 A rapid cure was effected by the internal administration, together 

 with local application of the root of a shrub, ' the Pogostemon 

 purpurieaulis,' very common all over the Concan." In 1874 Dr. 

 Langley made the following report to the Deputy Surgeon- 

 General : — " Thirteen cases arising from the bites of poisonous snakes 

 were treated in the Civil Hospital, Ratnagiri. The only remedy 

 used was the pounded root of a plant called Pangala, the i Pogostemon 

 purpurieaulis of botanists' ; the root of this plant is given internally 

 as well as applied as a paste locally; all these cases did well, and were 

 discharged from two to four days after admission." 



In 1884, Dr. H. McCalman, Civil Surgeon, Ratnagiri, forwarded 

 a communication, " On the treatment of Phursa bite by Pangala root, 



h illustrative case," to the Bombay Medical and Physical Society, 

 from which I extract the following remarks : — " The Echis carinata, 

 a viperinc snake, is very common in the Ratnagiri District. Fayrer 



