Cuapr. IX.] CACILIA GLUTINOSA. 317 
Cape in 1772, which was imported for them “ from the 
Indies, especially from Malabar,” at so high a price 
that few of the farmers could afford to possess them- 
selves of it; he describes it as convex on one side, 
black, and so porous that “when thrown into water, 
it caused bubbles to rise ;” and hence, by its absorbent 
qualities, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the 
poison from the wound.! 
Cecilia. — The rocky jungle, bordering the higher 
coffee estates, provides a safe retreat for a very singular 
animal, first introduced to the notice of European 
naturalists about a century ago by Linneus, who 
gave it the name Cecilia glutinosa, to indicate two 
peculiarities manifest to the ordinary observer —an 
apparent defect of vision, from the eyes being so small 
and embedded as to be scarcely distinguishable; and a 
power of secreting from minute pores in the skin a 
1 Thunberg, vol. i. p. 155. Since 
the foregoing account was pub- 
lished, I have received a note from 
Mr. Hanpy, relative to the piedra 
ponsona, the snake-stone of Mexico, 
in which he gives the following 
account of the method of pre- 
paring and applying it: “Take a 
piece of hare Lark of any con- 
venient size and shape; cover it 
well round with grass or hay, 
enclose both in a thin piece of 
sheet copper well wrapped round 
them, and place the parcel in a 
charcoal fire till the bone is suffi- 
ciently charred. 
“When cold, remove the calcined 
horn from its envelope, when it 
will be ready for immediate use. 
In this state it will resemble a 
solid black fibrous substance, of 
the same shape and size as before 
it was subjected to this treat- 
ment. 
“Use.—The wound beingslightly 
punctured, apply the bone to the 
opening, to which it will adhere 
firmly for the space of two minutes; 
and when it falls, it should be re- 
ceived into a basin of water. It 
should then be dried in a cloth, 
and again applied to the wound. 
But it will not adhere longer than 
about one minute. In like manner 
it may be applied a third time; 
but now it will fall almost imme- 
diately, and nothing will cause it 
to adhere any more. 
“ These effects I witnessed in the 
case of a bite of a rattle-snake at 
Oposura, a town in the province of 
Sonora, in Mexico, from whence I 
obtained my recipe; and I have 
given other particulars r i 
it in my Travels in the Interior of 
Mexico, published in 1830. RB. 
W.H. Harpy. Bath, 30th Janu- 
ary, 1860.” 
