21 



soon got under. But not so the bite of the 

 Ticpolonga. It takes a longer time for the poison 

 to take effect — from four to ten hours. What I 

 mean is, while the cobra bite proves fatal within 

 three or four hours if not treated, the bite of the 

 Ticpolonga will not kill a man for about twelve 

 hours or so ; but it is exceedingly difficult to bring 

 out the poison of the Tic." 



In the ''Visitors' Book" in Nalanda Rest- 

 house there is an entry dated July 24th, 1908, 

 evidently made by someone who had been stopping 

 at the Resthouse, mentioning that '* the Resthouse 

 keeper's son had been bitten on the foot by a large 

 cobra ; that a native doctor had been sent for and 

 applied remedies, but the patient was in a very bad 

 state." The writer also mentioned that he was 

 obliged to leave the Resthouse without waiting to 

 see the outcome of the bite, but, that should the 

 boy recover, it would be a marvellous cure and 

 should be inquired into. 



It was about three weeks afterwards that I 

 read the above statement in the Resthouse book, 

 and found the patient (a youth of about 22 years) 

 to be quite recovered, though the fang marks were 

 discernable in the side of his foot. Upon inquiry 

 I learnt that, although some time had elapsed 

 before the arrival of the native doctor, and the foot 

 was much swollen, the latter had managed to cure 

 him by giving him herbs to eat, and by putting a 

 herb in his own mouth and sucking the wound. 

 There was no cauterizing or lancing. The patient 

 suffered extreme pain in the night, and his leg 

 became much swollen, showing that the poison 

 must have got well into the wound. I do not 

 know whether the doctor repeated the treatment, 

 but the boy got all right in a day or two, and 

 suffered from no subsequent illness or weakness, 

 such as is usual after receiving a large dose of 

 poison into the system. 



