12 OUR REPTILES. 



charms, and snake charmers, to an almost un- 

 limited extent. Any one who has paid attention 

 to the Materia Medica of hot climates knows how 

 common ' snake-roots ' and antidotes to snake 

 poison are in all such countries. In many in- 

 stances these substances are in themselves per- 

 fectly useless, and derived their reputation in a 

 great measure from their external resemblance 

 in form to the sinuous or coiled reptile. In 

 many others they are only stimulant or tonic. 



The most notable of remedies is the snake- 

 stone, not only because of the wonderful powers 

 ascribed to it, but also on account of the belief 

 still entertained, even by many Europeans, of 

 its marvellous curative properties. There is 

 some confusion with regard to it, on account of 

 its numerous imitations. The true snake-stone 

 of the East is undoubtedly a kind of Bezoar or 

 biliary concretion found in the stomach of various 

 animals. Factitious Bezoars are generally 

 either of calcined bone, gypsum, or other ab- 

 sorbent material. The Zuhr Mohra or Zelwr 

 Morah, as it is called in India, is a kind of 

 Bezoar celebrated in Eastern works as a remedy 

 for snake-bites, hydrophobia, &c., and Dr. 

 Ainslie says it is supposed by the Hindoos to 

 possess sovereign virtues as an external appli- 

 cation in cases of snake-bites or stings of 

 scorpions ; and its various Oriental names imply 



