48 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



the pelican stone. This last is the most highly 

 prized of all. It secures the magic presence and 

 cooperation of a spirit that dwells in the pelican. 

 When the doctor is seeking to enter the spirit 

 world in search of the soul of the sick person, this 

 spirit ensures to him a swift passage there and back. 

 The crystal stone is indispensable in discovering 

 where the wandering soul of the sick person is in 

 hiding and for detecting the spirit who is causing 

 the sickness. And the backbone batu cures dysen- 

 tery, indigestion and consumption. 



In practicing medicine for the benefit of the na- 

 tives, I worked out one theory in regard to leprosy, 

 which is a fairly common ailment in the Archipel- 

 ago. I asked myself why, since a snake sheds its 

 skin, a man who is afflicted with disease should not 

 be able to do the same thing. 



In Singapore there was a rich Chinese leper, 

 known as Ong Si Chou, who asked me repeatedly 

 why I did not bring him some new remedy for his 

 disease. Since he had a large household of servants 

 who took care of him, and his own carriages and 

 rickshaws when he traveled, he was allowed to live 

 untroubled by the authorities ; but he was very un- 

 happy, because he had tried all the remedies of the 

 native doctors and was steadily growing worse. At 

 last I told him that I had something that might 

 help. He asked me what it was but I would not 

 tell him. When he insisted, I answered, "Snakes." 



"Uh-la!" he exclaimed, waving his arms in the 



