302 Gr. Ranking — Artificial Immunity. [No. 3, 



which in their language are called d-Hr* l an d also from the name 

 of the medicine for fatal poisons, because this medicine is of use for 

 all those kinds of poison. Accordingly it was named Jj'j^. The 

 Arabs corrected this and called it d'ir^'- (The antidote kcit' e^o^v.) 

 The Taj 2 states that it is only called ij^y because it contains the 

 slaver (venom) of serpents ( oLvsriJJj) ). Al Jauhari says, " The 

 word <jL>y is an Arabicised Persian word meaning an antidote for 

 poisons, the Arabs call wine (j'^r* because it dispels grief," and in the 

 Talkhis 3 it is called $-?/d\ Al-taryaq (with fatha) and cj) f &h d'^ir* 

 Taryaq al Fariiq the selective (or discriminating) antidote ; also ^^Ifj^ji 

 Tiryaq al Afa'i and^-^t d'ir* Tiryaq ul Akbar, the chief antidote. This 

 is that which restores the spirit of one who is suffering from the effects 

 of poisonous drugs, to its normal condition. It takes four years in its 

 preparation, and must not be used before that time has elapsed ; it lasts 

 from four to thirty years : the freshly prepared is efficacious in all cases, 

 but in from thirty years to sixty years it becomes old and weak. The 

 old o'ir' resembles an old man, and the freshly prepared is like the 

 youth. 



The £J)iJl <3^r* {tiryaq ul arba') is compounded of four in- 

 gredients. 

 The AaJUj^I o^ir* (tiryaq ul Samdniya) is compounded of eight 

 ingredients and is far more efficacious than 

 the gj^o^y (tiryaq ul arba'). 

 The t^^^l <J^y (^ r y i "l "^ mujdnin) is the name given to the 

 flesh of hedgehogs, because it is good for 

 sufferers from epilepsy and melancholia." 

 As to the other ingredients of this d^P we have little or no in- 

 formation. Lane in his Lexicon states, that it contained " the best sort 

 of Jew's pitch," i.e., asphaltum, also called ^°_y° mumia : but the mere 

 fact that the presence of either the flesh of vipers or their venom was 

 indispensable shews that this was looked upon as the active ingredient, 

 and it certainly appears that the administration of serpent venom as a 

 means of establishing immunity against the bite of venomous snakes 

 was known centuries ago. 



1 (?) ci*-^r* drjpwv 



8 crj^l £ 15 date 709 H - 



(H. K.) 



3 Talkhis fil Lughat, by Abu Hilal Hasan ibn-Abclullah Askerf, died 395 H. 



(H. K) 



