SNAKE-POISON LITERATURE. 39 



disease — not even excepting cholera — for which 

 such a multitude of remedies are in existence, as 

 for snake-poisoning, or more correctly speaking for 

 snake-bite, for the two are by no means synony- 

 mous. The thousands of antidotes are almost 

 all of a secret nature, very few being known 

 and having professional sanction. Every district 

 in India has its own samp-wallahs, and each 

 samp-wallah is the happy possessor of an anti- 

 dote and a Tnantra to assist it. Whether these 

 men believe in the efficacy of their remedies 

 I am not quite sure, but I have never yet seen 

 the man who was willing to submit his remedy 

 to a crucial test in his own person even for a 

 consideration. The excuse has always been that 

 he might forget his Tnantra at a critical moment. 

 This reminds me of a curious story which was 

 told to me some time ago. It appears that 

 before the Mahomedan wood-cutters will go into 

 a fresh patch of jungle in the Soonderbunds, they 

 send a holy man (strange to say, a Hindoo) to 

 the place to propitiate the wild animals. He 

 erects a small maichan in which he stops for 

 the night, if he is not eaten in the meantime. 

 If all goes well, and the jogi is untouched, 

 it is assumed that the jungle may be safely 



