1§. North Indian Folk-Medicine for Hydrophobia and 
Scorpion-Sting. 
By Sarat Cuanpra Mirra, M.A., B.L. 
_ The ojha or medicine-man is an important member of the 
Village-community in rural Bengal. He is either a Hindu of 
low caste ora Mahomedan. His profession is generally heredi- 
diseases, women suffering from hysteria, and cases of snake- 
bite and hydrophobia. He is believed to be an adept in benefi- 
cent ell as in nefarious magic. In his capacity as an 
*xponent of malevolent sorcery, he is much more dreaded 
than loved, as the illiterate folks of the countryside suppose 
that he can inflict diseases and do all sorts of mischief, if he 
8 offended in any way. By way of remuneration for his pro- 
tlonate to the pecuniary circumstances of the patient. In the 
olden times, the village ojha was credited with the possession 
of a good deal of thaumaturgie power. But with the pro- 
of education and the spread of enlightenment in general, 
- belief in their potency has greatly fallen off, so much so 
at, at the present day, the number of the practitioners of 
“reery can be counted on the fingers of a hand. 
As stated above, the village ojha professes to cure cases of 
ke-bi 
ol from Bengal for use in Bihar, the instructions for 
