208 OPHIDIANS. 
may be cured with the same remedies used for a Rattlesnake- 
bite. 
Diet.—Keep out of the sun and night dew. Aliments pro- 
hibited: eggs, pork, ripe roast plantain, bananas, aguacates 
(alligator pears), cheese; nothing acid; must not go barefooted ; 
must on no account allow another Curer “ to lay hands upon” 
him ; he must not allow any pregnant or menstruating woman 
to come near him; but a maid, or a woman not menstruating, 
who is entirely exempt from all carnal commerce, may wait upon 
him. 
THIRD METHOD. 
A third method is very similar in the treatment, and con- 
cludes as follows: 
For the bite of the Sterpe (a Python) open a hen alive, and 
put one-half of it upon the wounded part, binding it fast with 
a bandage. 
Diet.—The first day of the cure give the patient fowl ; when 
better, beef and salt fish may be permitted. Absolutely pro- 
hibited: Fish, eggs, banana, aguacates, cheese, anything acid 
or flatulent; great care must be taken not to go barefooted ; 
and on no account to step on fowls’ excrement (this is mortal !); 
total abstinence from any carnal act; and he must not allow 
any woman, pregnant or menstruating, to come near him while 
being cured. 
Other methods might be given, but they are quite similar 
to those already noted, which are curiosities in their way, inso- 
much as that they have never before been published. 
Of the Galls, and their Mode of Preparation. 
It must always be borne in mind that the gall of a snake 
has its virtues most fully developed shortly after the skin has 
been cast, and when its poison is most venomous, provided, 
