SNAKE-STONES. 1 45 



In one case, a native was seen to dart into the wood, and return, bearing a Cobra, about 

 six feet in length, grasping it by the neck with the right hand and by the tail with the 

 left. The Serpent was powerful, and struggled so hard, that its captor was forced to 

 call for assistance. As, however, he held the reptile awkwardly, it contrived to get its 

 head round, and to the horror of the spectators, fastened on his hand, retaining its hold 

 for several seconds. The white bystanders at once gave up the man for lost, but his 

 companion speedily produced from his waistband two Snake-stones, one of which he applied 

 to each puncture. They clung firmly, seemed to absorb the flowing blood, and in a minute 

 or two relieved the extreme pain which the man was already suffering. Presently both 

 Snake-stones dropped simultaneously, and the man declared that the danger had then 

 passed away. 



Another native then took from his stores a little piece of white wood, passed it over 

 the head of the Cobra, grasped it by the neck and put it into his basket, averring that 

 when armed with this weapon, a man could handle any kind of Snake without being 

 bitten. 



A similar instance is related by Mr. Lavalliere, formerly District Judge of Kandy, and 

 forwarded to Sir J. E. Tennent by the writer, together with the materials employed. The 

 woody substances will presently be described ; at present o,ur business is with the Snake- 

 stone, or Pamboo-Kaloo as the natives call it. 



The formation of these objects has long been a mystery, and they have been made into 

 a very profitable article of commerce by those who possess the secret. The monks of 

 Manilla are said to be the chief makers of Snake-stones, and to supply the merchants, by 

 whom they are distributed throughout so many countries. 



One of these stones was sent for analysis to Mr. Faraday, who pronounced it to be 

 made of charred bone, and in all probability to have been filled with blood, and again 

 charred. " Evidence of this is afforded, as well by the apertures of cells or tubes on its 

 surface, as by the fact that it yields and breaks under pressure, and exhibits an organic 

 structure within. When heated slightly, water rises from it and also a little ammonia, 

 and if heated still more highly in the air, carbon burns away, and a bulky white ash is 

 left, retaining the shape and size of the stone." This ash is composed of phosphate of 

 lime, and Sir J. E. Tennent remarks, with much judgment, that the blood discovered by 

 Mr. Faraday was probably that of the native to whom the Snake-stone was applied. 



Another light has been thrown on the subject by Mr. E. W. H. Hardy, who states that the 

 Snake-stone is in use in Mexico, and that it is formed by cutting a piece of stag's-horn 

 into the proper shape, wrapping it tightly in grass or hay, folding it in sheet-copper so as 

 to exclude the air, and calcining it in a charcoal fire. 



Being desirous of testing the truth of this recipe, I procured a piece of stag's-horn, cut 

 it into proper shape, and exposed it to the heat of a fierce charcoal fire for an hour and a 

 half. On removing it from the copper, the hay had been fused into a black mass, easily 

 broken, and forming a complete cast of the inclosed horn, which fell out like an almond 

 from its shell. 



On comparing the charred horn with the veritable Snake-stones, I find them to be 

 identical except in the polish. The fracture of both is the same, and when exposed to a 

 white heat in the air, my own specimen burned away, leaving a white ash precisely as 

 related of the real specimen, and the ashes of both are exactly alike, saving that my own 

 is of a purer white than that specimen calcined by Mr. Faraday, which has a slight tinge 

 of pink, possibly from the absorbed blood. On throwing it into water, it gave out a vast 

 amount of air from its pores, making the water look for a few seconds as if it were newly 

 opened champagne, a peculiarity which agrees with Thunberg's description of the Snake- 

 stone used at the Cape, and imported at a high price from Malabar. The rather high 

 polish of the Cingalese Snake-stone I could not rightly impart to my own specimen, 

 probably for want of patience. I found, however, that by rendering the surface very- 

 smooth with a file, and afterwards with emery paper, before exposing it to the fire, it could 

 be burnished afterwards by rubbing it with polished steel Even in the original objects, 

 the polish is not universal, the plane side being much rougher than the convex, 



We will now pass to the little pieces of woody substance, by which the natives assert 

 3. L 



