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 For 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 time 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. Eeyne." 



