56 THE LAND-MARKS OF 



Some supposed that the viper would not touch 

 them, and it was said that this was made a test of 

 the legitimacy of their children. I have observed, 

 in the previous chapter, that nothing will induce 

 a snake-charmer to kill a cobra, especially if he 

 The sheltering happens to have been bitten by it. It is recorded 



of snakes. ^^ '' 



that the king of Calicut actually had huts built 

 in which snakes might take shelter during the 

 rains, and that the punishment awarded to any 

 one who harmed these reptiles was death. 

 Non-venomous "While the venomous snake was made the sym- 



snakes, the ^ 



^health."* bol of divine power, the non-venomous snake 

 was made the emblem of health, possibly on 

 account of its shedding its skin every month. 

 The venom has been used for many purposes, 

 especially for those of war. The Scythians are 

 said to have poisoned their arrows with the venom 

 of the viper and human blood,* as the South 

 American Indians did with the Wourara poison 

 (this is supposed to contain snake-poison also) ; 

 the Tartars are believed to use viper- venom in a 

 similar way ; and the Hottentots are known to 



* I have in ray possession some Fijian arrows which 

 are said to have been rendered poisonous by being first 

 plunged into the decomposing corpse of a human being, 

 and then smeared with some vegetable poison. 



