SNAKE-CHAliMEES 237 



From the left foot the operator passes to the right wrist 

 (anterior surface), then to the right foot (dorsal surface), and left 

 wrist (anterior surface), always changing from one side of the 

 body to the other. 



Operations are continued on the left thigh, then on the right 

 arm, right thigh, and left arm ; in this way all the limbs are inocu- 

 lated. On the body an inoculation is made in the centre of the 

 sternum ; another is made in the nape, and a final one in the centre 

 of the forehead. The finishing touch is given with the semblance 

 of a square incision in the tongue. 



At least seven series of similar inoculations are necessary to 

 protect a man from the spells of the serpent, and at the same 

 time to confer upon him the faculty of curing by suction the 

 bites of the venomous snakes that are most dreaded. 



During the whole of the period in which the Indian thus sub- 

 mits to successive inoculations, his health shows no noteworthy 

 derangement. He feels a slight headache and a strange inclination 

 towards alcoholic drinks. But when the moon is at the full, then 

 indeed, an excitement which is dangerous in another way takes 

 possession of him. His cerebral faculties become over-excited, and 

 he feels that his senses are deserting him ; his eyes become blood- 

 shot, and he is pursued and tormented by an irresistible impulse 

 to bite. He has itching sensations in his gums, his mouth burns, 

 and salivation is greatly increased. He feels that he is going to 

 give way to the necessity to bite, and then he flees to the woods, 

 where he bites the trees viciously, tears their bark and discharges 

 his venom. His poisonous saliva mingles with the sap, and, sur- 

 prising phenomenon, the tree withers and dies ! 



Woe to the man or animal who happens to be bitten by a 

 Ciiraclo de Culehra in a fit of passion. The victim will die as 

 quickly as if he had been bitten by a snake ! 



Almost all the semi-savage people of Guiana, and of the valleys 

 of the Orinoco and the Amazons, as also the tribes of Central 

 Africa and the races of India, possess witch-doctors, who pretend 



