142 ANTIDOTES AND EEMEDIES. 



charmers do not possess some means of rendering themselves comparatively proof against 

 the Serpent's bite ; for it is reasonable to conclude that, just as a secretion of a cow will, 

 when it has been suffered to pervade the system^ render it proof against the poison of 

 the small-pox, there may be some substance which, by a kind of inoculation, can guard 

 the recipient against the poison of the Cobra. In the last century, the one was quite as 

 irremediable as the other. 



Another fact is yet to be mentioned. In almost every instance where a poison, 

 vegetable or animal, is likely to gain access to human beings, Nature supplies a remedy at 

 no great distance, just as, to take a familiar instance, the dock is always to be found near 

 the nettle. There certainly are many poisons for which no sure remedy has been 

 discovered, and, until lately, the venom of the Cobra ranked among that number. 

 Eecently, however, some important discoveries have been made, which seem to prove that 

 the bite of the Cobra may be cured in two methods, viz. the external application of certain 

 substances to the wound, and the internal administration of others. As the general 

 character of the Cobra is almost precisely the same as that of many other venomous 

 Serpents, and has long been familiar to the public, I shall devote the greater portion of 

 the space, not to the creature itself, but to the remedies for its bite. 



'The first of these remedies is a plant belonging to the group of birth-worts, and known 

 to botanists by the name of Aristolo'chia Indica. 



This plant has long been considered as a valuable remedy for the bite of the Cobra, 

 but the accounts of its use and mode of operation have mostly been vague and scarcely 

 trustworthy. I have, however, been fortunate enough to obtain much valuable informa- 

 tion on this subject from K. Lowther, Esq., formerly Commissioner in India, who was 

 accustomed to employ this plant very largely in cases of Cobra-bites, and has kindly 

 forwarded the following communication on the subject : 



" According to your request I have the pleasure of inclosing a statement of one out of 

 at least twenty cases of Snake-bites, in which the exhibition of the Aristolochia Indica 

 was attended with complete success, on patients who were brought to my house on a 

 litter, in a perfect state of coma from the bites of venomous Snakes. 



The Aristolochia Indica is noticed by medical writers as a powerful stimulant, much 

 extolled as a remedy for Snake-bites, in support of which I need only refer you to my 

 detailed statement, as also to the circumstances under which the plant was transferred to 

 my garden at Allahabad. The gentleman from whom I received it (Mr. Breton, Deputy 

 Collector of Customs) gave me the following account of it. 



A Cobra, to the great alarm of his servants, had taken up its abode in a mound of 

 earth, formed by white ants, in the vicinity of his house. A party of Snake-catchers having 

 one day made their appearance in the village, Mr. Breton was afforded the opportunity of 

 getting rid of the reptile by having it dug out of its lodgment. After having reached a 

 considerable depth, the man at work used his finger for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 direction of the hole. This seemed to have been its termination, or nearly so, as the Snake 

 caught hold of his finger. His companion immediately ran off to the bank of a stream 

 near at hand, and brought back some leaves, which, having bruised with a stone, he 

 administered to his friend's relief. Mr. Breton requested the man to take him to the plant, 

 which he forthwith removed to his own garden. The Snake-catcher informed him the 

 plant was a specific, and that they usually carried the dried root about with them in case 

 of need. 



Mr. Breton, having been subsequently appointed to Allahabad, brought the plant away, 

 and was successful in the treatment of numerous cases. On being removed to a distant 

 station, he transferred the plant to me. The plant is a creeper, and sheds its leaves at that 

 season when Snakes, for the most part, are lying inert in their holes. I should have 

 mentioned, that the Cobra above referred to was killed in the hole. 



There are several species of Aristolochia, all of them I believe stimulant ; but the Indica 

 is that which I refer to, it is intensely bitter and strongly aromatic. 



In one bad case which came under my treatment, in which large doses had been 

 exhibited, I gave" an additional leaf to the patient to take home, but to be used only in case 



