314 
EEPTILES. 
[Chap. IX. 
in my possession. The roots employed by the several 
parties are not identical. One appears to be a bit of 
the stem of an Aristolochia ; the other is so dried as to 
render its identification difficult, but it resembles the 
quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of 
Aristolochia, such as the A. serpentaria of North Ame- 
rica, are supposed to act as specifics in the cure of snake- 
bites; and the A. indica is the plant to which the 
ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote 
when bitten 1 ; but it is probable that the use of any 
particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or 
rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the 
resolute action of the operator 2 , and not by the influence 
1 Eor an account of the en- 
counter between the ichneumon 
and the venomous snakes of Ceylon, 
see Ch. I. p. 39. 
2 The following narrative of the 
operations of a snake-charmer in 
Ceylon is contained in a note from 
Mr. Keyne, of the department of 
public works : " A snake-charmer 
came to my bungalow in 1854, re- 
questing me to allow him to show 
me his snakes dancing. As I had 
frequently seen them, I told him I 
would give him a rupee if he would 
accompany me to the jungle, and 
catch a cobra, that I knew fre- 
quented the place. He was willing, 
and as I was anxious to test the 
truth of the charm, I counted his 
tame snakes, and put a watch over 
them until I returned with him. 
Before going I examined the man, 
and satisfied myself he had no 
snake about his person. When 
we arrived at the spot, he played 
on a small pipe, and after perse- 
vering for some tune out came a 
large cobra from an ant hill, which 
I knew it occupied. On seeing the 
man it tried to escape, but he 
caught it by the tail and kept 
swinging it round until we reached 
the bungalow. He then made it 
dance, but before long it bit him 
above the knee. He immediately 
bandaged the leg above the bite, 
and applied a snake-stone to the 
wound to extract the poison. He 
was in great pain for a few minutes, 
but after that it gradually went 
away, the stone falling off just be- 
fore he was relieved. When he 
recovered he held a cloth up, which 
the snake flew at, and caught its 
fangs in it ; while in that position, 
the man passed his hand up its 
back, and having seized it by the 
throat, he extracted the fangs in 
my presence and gave them to me. 
He then squeezed out the poison 
on to a leaf. It was a clear oily 
substance, and when rubbed on the 
hand produced a fine lather. I 
carefully watched the whole opera- 
tion, which was also witnessed by 
my clerk and two or three other 
persons. Colombo, 13th January, 
I860.— H. E. Eeyotj." 
