161 



ference, and as the man had a good quantity of arrack 

 inside of him I contented him by means of a draught of 

 water coloured pink with dentifrice lotion, and they soon 

 took their departure without any constitutional symptoms 

 appearing. The man's hand was swollen when I saw him 

 next day. The cobra by which these men had been bitten, 

 and which they brought with them, was in perfect condition. 



In these cases the cobras had evidently bitten without 

 injecting poison; I have no doubt that this happens 

 frequently and that many of the authentic recoveries 

 ascribed to antidotes are really due to the want of malice 

 on the part of the snake. Had I been an antidote enthusiast 

 1 might have made some nice cases of cure out of these 

 accidents. 



CHAPTER V .—Schemes of extermination. 



At a time when Government is continually been urged 

 to undertake the extermination of the venomous snakes in 

 India, a few words on the subject may not be out of place. 



The idea is, I consider, theoretically preposterous and 

 practically impossible of execution ; moreover, attempts to 

 carry it out result in the waste of public money sadly 

 needed for much more important sanitary objects. 



The idea that Government is to spend large sums on pro- 

 tecting people from animals which a child can destroy by a 

 blow with a stick is preposterous. Rewards for the destruc- 

 tion of wild beasts one can understand, as the service 

 demands both courage and skill, but one cannot seriously 

 listen to a proposal the effect of which would be to turn 

 half the labourers of the country into snake-hunting loafers, 

 and to spend money which could be much more advan- 

 tageously employed. 



21 



