142 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN T*IE EAST. 



in the absence of that remedy, and that he had been in 

 the habit of using it since his earh'est childhood. He was a 

 thick-set, muscular man, of good intelligence, merry hu- 

 moured, had a light complexion, and long black hair. The 

 proverb proved true with him : — 



" Quod cibus est aliis, aliis est acre venenum."' 

 " One man's meat may be another's poison." 



In my numerous collection of serpents, I had only three 

 venomous species, namely : — I. The annulated serpent ( As- 

 pidoclonion ) ; 2. The cobra di capello ( Aspis Naja ) ; 5. 

 Vipers, of different colours and sizes. The first (Aspidocloni- 

 on ) is reputed to be the most venomous. Its poison 

 afifects the throat immediately, whence the Indian name, 

 sungcbure ( neck-strangler ). It is stated that its bite will kill 

 the strongest man in one hour, and that no antidote is yet 

 known. The length of this serpent is about a yard and a 

 half, and it is an inch and a half in diameter. Its back is 

 of a dark-grey colour, the belly white, the head not bigger 

 round than the body, the tail long and pointed. One span 

 below the head, cross-stripes of a white colour commence, 

 similar to rings, each one inch distant from the other, which 

 run down to the end of the tail. It is stated that they live 

 for five hundred years. They cannot easily be excited, 

 and consequently they seldom bite. The man who brought 

 me such a reptile, took it up with a linen rag tied round 

 his hand, opened its mouth with a small stick, introduced 

 the neck of a live fowl, and set them both at liberty. 

 The serpent held the bird for a few seconds, and then 

 released it. The poor animal seemed to be stunned ; it 

 did not appear to suffer any pain, but was unable to move, 

 shut its eyes, and sat down. I lifted it up, and examined 

 the bitten part on the neck. It was scarcely to be detected, 

 and looked like the wound from a pin. After the applica- 

 tion of some local and interior remedies, it seemed to recover 

 a little ; opening its eyes, erecting itself on its legs, and 

 having two watery evacuations of a dark-green colour. 



