418 
H. C. YARROW. 
lows: “ * * * 1 pressed down the stone over the punctures; it 
adhered at once. I removed my fingers, then sloped his hand 
and turned it round; lastly I drew on the stone with moderate 
force until it lifted the skin, as a sucker would do. In about a 
quarter of an hour the patient himself first mentioned that the 
stone was loosed. I touched it with one finger and it became dis¬ 
placed.” The man recovered. 
Dr. Eteson states with regard to his case: “ It is not worth 
much, for the identity of the snake and the precise conditions of 
the bite were not established, but at all events the stone did what 
it was professed it would do, and there was no suspicion of the 
man having been otherwise than genuinely bitten. When this 
particular stone was shown to the Indian snake charmers they 
appeared greatly surprised at its form, their own being small, 
rounded and pebble-shaped, but they recognized it as genuine.” 
Dr. Eteson, being determined to investigate the matter still fur¬ 
ther, corresponded with the priest at Bassein who manufactured 
the snake stones, and received the following directions for mak¬ 
ing them: “ Cut or saw in the shape of a gun flint the hard part 
of a good deer’s horn. Polish these pieces by rubbing them on a 
stone. Soak them for eight hours in good vinegar. Take a small 
earthern pot (chatty) and place the bits of horn in the center, 
surrounded by rice hulls in such a way that the stones shall not 
touch each other. Fill the pot with rice hulls and seal its cover 
hermetically with earth. Put the pot in the center of a little 
fire made with rice hulls and let it remain for twelve hours. 
After the cooking, place the stones again in the vinegar for seven 
hours. Take out the stones and test them on ithe lips; if they 
stick like a cupping glass they are good. To preserve them they 
should be wrapped in cotton and kept from the air. After one 
has been used it should be soaked in milk, which will remove the 
venom.” The priest stated that out of sixty stones thus prepared 
only six were found to be of service. 
Sir Joseph Tennant, in his work on Ceylon, fifth edition, 
1860, I., p. 197, speaks of the Pamboo Kaloo, a snake stone, 
which he saw applied by Indian snake charmers in two cases with 
apparent good effect. Those he saw were of the size of a small 
