SNAKE-STONES. I4S 



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, re- 

 taining 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 

 a man armed with this weapon, 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 our 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 yery 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. R. \V. 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 

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