THE SNAKE AND ITS NATURAL FOES. 381 



" warmth over the general surface ; clears the mind if coma supervene. 

 " In the collapsed state of cholera, it is successfully used. It is employed 

 "in dysentery, and some complicated diseases. Used in epilepsy arising 

 " from cold, relieving the patient from insensibility, and f orgetfulness, 

 "symptomatic of that disease. Some practitioners have written that 

 " snake poison is used as an antidote in cases of snake- bite when the body 

 "is cold, and the heart's action is scarcely perceptible. Used in such a 

 "state it accelerates the heart's action, and causes a flow of blood to the 

 "distant capillaries in which circulation has ceased, and diffuses warmth 

 " over the general surface, etc." 



Young* gives the following curious recipe for snakebite which 

 the Siamese physicians advocate : — " A piece of the jaw of a wild 

 " hog, a piece of the jaw of a tame hog, a piece of the bone of a goose, 

 "a piece of the bone of a peacock. The tail of a fish. The head of a 

 "poisonous snake." 



Mervyn Smithf alludes to the Chentsus, a tribe inhabiting the 

 Nallamalley Mountains of India, skinning two hamadryads which he 

 had shot, and remarks : " The poison fangs, and glands, the palate, and 

 "the gall were carefully preserved for medicine. Diluted with gingelly 

 "oil, the poison is drunk in small portions, and is said to be a wonderful 

 " preservative against all snakebites." 



An Ant/dote in Snakebite. — This belief in the efficacy of certain parts 

 of poisonous snakes, and especially the poison as an antidote to snake- 

 bite, is widespread. Mead, already referred to, had the greatest faith 

 in viper's fat as an antidote in viper bite, and claimed that it was the 

 remedy used by the English viper-catchers from whom, after much 

 trouble, he obtained the secret. 



Among other "cordial remedies" which Richardst tells us were 

 recommended was the " salt of vipers", whatever this may mean. Many 

 tribes habitually swallow snake poison with the idea of acquiring im- 

 munity from snake-bite, and there seems little reason to doubt that their 

 belief is well founded as shown by experiment on the lower animals. 

 The Revd. J. Campbell§ speaking of the Hottentots in S. Africa says 

 they will "catch a serpent, squeeze out the poison from under hi 



* "The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe," p. 124. 



t ' ; Sport and Adventure in the Indian Jungle," p. 25. 



% Loc. cit., p. 65. 



§ Page 401. 



