SNAKE BITE AND ITS ANTIDOTE. 
419 
almond, intensely black and highly polished, though of an ex¬ 
tremely light substance. Dr. Davy, on the authority of Sir 
Alexander Johnson, says the manufacture of these stones is a 
lucrative business, and is carried on by the monks of Manilla, 
who supply the Indian merchants with them, and his analysis 
confirms that of Mr. Faraday, who declared the stone to be cal¬ 
cined horn. 
In Mexico a similar stone was used, which was prepared as 
follows: Take a piece of hartshorn of any convenient size and 
shape; cover it well round with grass or hay and inclosing both 
in a thin piece of sheet copper, well wrapped round them, place 
the whole parcel in a charcoal fire until the bone* is sufficiently 
charred. When cold remove the calcined horn from its envelope, 
when it will be ready for immediate use. In this state it will re¬ 
semble a solid black fibrous substance of the same shape and size 
as before it was subjected to this treatment. 1. “ Use—The 
wound being slightly punctured, apply the bone to the opening, 
to which it will adhere firmly for the space of ten minutes, and 
when it falls it should be received into a basin of water. It 
should then be dried in a cloth and again applied to the wound. 
But it will not adhere longer than about one minute. In like 
manner it may be applied a third time, but it will fall almost im¬ 
mediately, and nothing will cause it to adhere any more.” It 
will be noticed that the Mexican method of preparing the stones 
does not differ materially from the East Indian plan. A number 
of reliable observers have tested these stones and found them to 
be of no value. Among them may be mentioned Fontana, Viand- 
Gran d-Marais, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Vincent Richards and others; 
it has also been carefully tested by Dr. John Shortt of Madras, 
who states that he had some difficulty in getting the stone to ad¬ 
here ; dogs and chickens were bitten, but all died. He sums up 
“ There is no truth in the virtues attributed to the snake stone, 
for it has neither the power to absorb or otherwise neutralize the 
snake poison from the wound.” {Lancet, London, 1867, I., 5, 76.) 
In view of these unfavorable reports the results of the writer’s 
experiments with the kaolin snake stone will probably be read 
with some interest, although they were so few in number as to 
