CHAPTER LX, 
ALLEGED SNAKE BITE CURES—RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 
In all countries where venomous snakes abound, so-called anti- 
dotes to snake bite spring up like crops of weeds upon a rank 
soil. In India at least a score of alleged antidotes were largely 
advertised and otherwise advocated. Each “cure” had its 
adherents, many of whom testified to its power to cure snake 
bite. Doctors Fayrer, Brunton, Rogers, and other eminent 
experimenters exhaustively tested the alleged antidotes in use 
in India, and found them one and all, to be of little or no value. 
Colonists in South Africa invariably attach much importance 
to the assertions of the natives in regard to alleged snake 
bite remedies. This faith has, doubtless, been considerably 
strengthened by the crafty ‘“‘ Kafir doctors’ ”’ tactics. 
How BELIEFS ARE SPREAD. 
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These ‘‘ doctors” tell of the wonderful virtues of some 
favourite remedy for snake bite, and when urged to divulge its 
nature, make a profound mystery of it, declaring that fabulous 
sums would not tempt them to disclose the secret. Naturally 
the inquirer is impressed, more or less. Many of these “ doctors ”’ 
have accomplices, who pretend to be suffering seriously from snake 
bite. With much mystery and fuss, the doctor appears upon the 
scene and applies his remedy. The man makes an apparent 
rapid recovery, and the “ cure”’ is heralded all over the neigh- 
bourhood.. I have, however, met many of these native doctors, 
who, I have every reason to believe, had firm faith in the anti- 
dotal properties of their snake bite “‘ mooti’’ (medicine). 
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