Remarks on the Case of Miss M'Avoy. 123 



taken by Dr. Davy, who at present resides in Ceylon ; and he 

 has communicated the result of his researches (of which an abs- 

 tract is liere given) to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. 



The snake stones as they are called, whicii Dr. Davy exammed, 

 were of three kinds. One by minute analysis was found to be 

 merely calcined lone ; another was carbonate of lime coloured 

 by vegetable mailer; the third was a bezoar stone. Ot these, 

 the two first had some adhesive powers when applied to the 

 tongue; but the last had no such power. 



Dr. Daw decides that these stones are of no use whatever as 

 applied to the wounds produced by the bites of serpents j and 

 he refers the pretended cures produced by them to Nature, or to 

 the circumstance that they have been applied to wounds pro- 

 duced by snakes which are not venomous. 



Of eleven different species of snakes which the author has ex- 

 amined, all of which were believed by the natives to be poison- 

 ous. Dr. Davy found only three to be really so ; and the bites 

 of two of these (the Cohia di capello and the Folonga) only are 

 mortal, and that under very peculiar circumstances. 



Dr. Davy concludes by stating, that the sooner the behet m 

 snake stones is exploded the better, as much time is lost in ap- 

 plying imaginary remedies, and some lives are lost which might 

 have been saved, and much suffering occasioned which might 

 have been prevented by eflicient means of cure. 



XXII. Remarks on the Case of Miss M'AvoY. By Mr. 

 Egerton Smith *. 



Mr. E. Smith having been referred to by Dr. Renwick, the 

 advocate of Miss M'Avov's pretensions, as one of the host of 

 testimony in their favour, that gentleman has deemed it neces- 

 sary, through the medium of the public press, to enter into some 

 explanation on the subject. The following remarks extracted 

 from his last letter will be found not undeserving of attention. 



" Under the supposition that MissM'Avoy is not blind, the sim- 

 ple question will be— whether her sight may not be so much 

 more acute than that of others, as to enable her to read a book 

 of small print, when there is so little light that ordinary eyes can 

 barely discern the leaves of the book ? 



" Experiments, which I have recently witnessed, have proved, 

 that one person, when stationed at the furthest corner of a very 

 long room, could read a book, of moderately small print, by the 

 light of a single candle placed in the opposite corner of the room ; 

 whilst some others of the company could barely make out the 



• From the Liverpool Mercury. 



print 



