144 REMARKS UPON THE ARISTOLOCHIA. 



for the performance of funeral rites, and to lose no time in bringing her infant, who 

 was said to be suffering from the effects of the poison. 



The poor thing reached my house in a state of insensibility, though not dead. Its 

 head was hanging on its shoulder, and when raised beyond the perpendicular would 

 fall on the opposite shoulder. The body was not cold, and that was the only indi- 

 cation that death had not supervened. I selected one of the smallest of the leaves of 

 the Aristolochia, and pounded one-third of it, and, with a small tablespoonful of water, 

 poured the solution into the stomach. After the lapse of four or five minutes the child 

 heaved a deep sigh, opened its eyes wildly, gave a loud scream, and afterwards became 

 quite composed. The child was brought to me on the following morning quite well." 



As this plant is so valuable, and seems likely to become an acknowledged remedy, a 

 few lines may be spared for a short description of the species, and the mode of its action. 



The Aristolochia Indica is one species of a rather large genus, inhabiting many parts 

 of the world, but being most plentiful in the hotter regions. It is a creeping plant and 

 the specimens grown by Mr. Lqwther were trained upon a trellis-work, which they clothed 

 with their narrow, abruptly pointed leaves. Another species of this group of plants, 

 the Aristolochia serpentina, is not uncommon in parts of North America, where it is 

 known under the title of the Virginian Snake-root. An infusion of this plant is used 

 as a specific against ague and liver affections. 



The fresh leaf of the Aristolochia Indica is, when tasted, very bitter and aromatic, bear- 

 ing some resemblance to quinine in the clear searching quality of the bitter. It is remark- 

 able that when persons are suffering from the poison of the Cobra they describe it as be- 

 ing sweet. There is certainly a kind of sweetness in the leaf, for on chewing a dried 

 leaf of this plant, kindly sent me by Sir W. Hooker, from the collection in the botanical 

 gardens at Kew, I find it to be rather, but not very bitter, with a pungent aroma, some- 

 thing like that of the common ivy, and a faint, though decided sweetness as an after-flavor. 



It is not a universal specific, for when experiments were tried by getting some dogs 

 bitten by the Cobra, and treating them with this leaf, they died to all appearance 

 sooner than if they had been entirely neglected. Mr. Lowther has made rather a 

 curious series of experiments on the Cobra's poison and the mode of its action, and 

 has found that while human beings become cold as marble under the influence of the 

 venom, dogs are affected in precisely an opposite manner, being thrown into a high 

 fever, from which they die. The body of a dog killed by a Cobra's bite, will remain 

 quite hot for some ten hours. The Aristolochia, therefore, which is a powerful stimu- 

 lant, rather aids than counteracts the operation of the poison. 



In the case of a human being, however, the effect of this remedy seems to be infallible, 

 and Mr. Lowther informs me that he always kept a mortar and pestle by the plant, so 

 that no time should be lost in bruising the leaf, and mixing it thoroughly with water, 

 before pouring it down the throat of the sufferer. The admixture of water was neces- 

 sary, because, in most instances, the patient was insensible, and the jaws stiffened, so 

 that the mouth needed to be opened forcibly, and the preparation poured down the throat. 



THE second mode of cure employed by the natives of India, Ceylon, and even of some 

 parts of Africa, is the now celebrated Snake-stone, so carefully described by Sir 

 J. E. Tennent in his " Natural History of Ceylon." On being bitten by a Cobra, the 

 sufferer applies one of these remarkable objects to each puncture, where they adhere 

 strongly for a variable space of time, five or six minutes appearing to be the usual 

 average. They seem to absorb the blood as it flows from the wound, and at last fall 

 off without being touched, when the danger is considered to be over. This mode of 

 application is general throughout all parts of the world where the Snake-stone is known. 



Through the kindness of Sir J. E. Tennent, I have been enabled to make a careful 

 inspection of these objects, and to peruse the original letters relating to their use. 

 They are flattish, shaped something like the half of an almond with squared ends, 

 rather light, bearing a very high polish, and of an intense black in fact, looking much 

 as if they were rudely cut from common jet. The value of these singular objects is 

 placed beyond doubt by the carefully accredited narratives lately published. 



