48 
THE THANATOPHIDIA OF INDIA. 
that night, the next day, Sept. 2nd, but about 1 a.m. of Sept. 
3rd began vomiting. At first Mr. I)-’s brother thought it 
was nothing, hut on his vomiting a second time he got up and 
attended to him. On his asking his brother how he felt, he 
said that he found his chest paining him a great deal, and com¬ 
plained of suffocation. After this Mr. I)- tried to vomit 
again by putting his finger down his throat, but failed. The 
native doctor was present, and continued giving ammonia witli 
brandy. He after this once fainted, and began to get weaker 
and weaker; and after about 3 a.m. he did not speak, and died 
about 11.30 a.m. on Sept. 3rd. Mr. D— ’s brother states that 
after Mr. D—— fainted he had convulsions three times—that 
on Sept. 2nd, about 3 or 4 p.m., he noticed that his brother was 
passing blood in the urine, stools, and vomit, also from the 
part bitten. He also states that he remarked the blood getting 
blacker and blacker as death approached.’ ” 
“Account of the case of Mr. I) - by Sub-Assistant-Surgeon 
K. 11. Paul , Hansi. 
“ On Aug. 31st, 1871, Mr. D-, after taking his dinner at 
8 p.m. with Mr. Edwardes, Assistant Superintendent of Police, 
Rolituk (who had come to Mahim on his tour of inspection), 
went out patrolling on foot towards the Hansi Lines, and on 
his return, not very far from his Bungalow, just near the Naka 
(the high thick thorn hedge carried across the country by the 
Customs Department to prevent smuggling—neither man nor 
beast can get over or through it), he saw a small thin black 
and white snake lying on the road, which he attempted to kill 
with his foot, hut the slipper he had on being loose, unfor¬ 
tunately came off, and the snake bit him on the right foot just 
above the great toe; he however killed the snake and walked 
a few steps when he fell and became quite insensible, and was 
carried by some of the peons to the Bungalow. 
“ Mr. Edwardes immediately administered some strong doses 
of brandy and liquor ammoniac, which made him vomit and 
brought him to his senses. He was kept awake all night, and 
brandy and ammonia were administered frequently. 
“On the morning of Sept. 1st, at 9 a.m. I received the 
notice, and immediately started with a proper supply of medi¬ 
cines to Mahim, and found Mr. D- though quite sensible 
vet very uneasy; his right foot and leg up to the thigh were 
very much swollen, and in several places had become blue, 
especially at the bitten part, from which blood was oozing in 
drops, owing to its having been previously incised by the 
knife; and a kind of stone called ‘ zahr mohra ’ was applied for 
the purpose of absorbing the snake poison. The pulse was slow, 
respiration not difficult, pupils slightly contracted, urine frequent 
and consisted of pure blood; sputa also frequent and consisted 
of pure blood. He complained of great thirst and feeling of 
uneasiness throughout the whole body, stabbing pains now and 
then at the bitten parts. Stomach very irritable, and would 
not retain anything. 
“ Treatment. —Stimulating mixture with liquor ammonite was 
exhibited every half hour, which was retained; the swollen 
parts were fomented with decoction of neem, which greatly 
relieved the pain and reduced the swelling, and the patient was 
not allowed to sleep. 
“ On the morning of the 2nd he said he felt better, sat down 
for half an hour on an easy-chair, and took a little sago, which 
was retained. Pulse a little improved, but the urine and sputa 
were still bloody, though less frequent. Stimulating mixture 
was continued every second hour instead of half hour; fomen¬ 
tation continued. At 2 p.m. he complained of severe pain in 
the abdomen, which was relieved by hot fomentation, but he 
made several unsuccessful attempts to evacuate his bowels. 
“ At 5 p.m. he asked to have some chicken broth, and wanted 
to have an undisturbed sleep, which was allowed, as now it was 
more than forty-eight hours since he had been bitten. 
“At 10 p.m. a relapse took place. He vomited the broth 
mixed with a large quantity of blood, and felt very uneasy and 
prostrated. Stimulating mixture with liquor ammonise was 
given frequently, every quarter of an hour. At 12 in the night 
he again felt worse ; suffocation and headache ensued. His 
bed was taken out into the verandah and the medicine was con¬ 
tinued. At 2 a.m (Sept. 3rd) the patient got much weaker, and 
insensible. Pulse very low ; breathing very difficult; convul¬ 
sions commenced ; he could only be roused by loud calling, and 
with difficulty could swallow the medicine which was given. 
At 4 a.m. he became convulsed (deeply insensible) ; he could 
not be roused at all, neither could he swallow medicine nor 
water. Cold perspiration broke out over the face; the eyes 
were depressed ; the extremities became cold ; the pulse scarcely 
perceptible ; the breathing prolonged and stertorous. Convul¬ 
sions more frequent; twitching of the right hand and beating 
of the right foot; the left side of the body became paralysed ; 
eyes insensible to light and congested ; involuntary discharge of 
bloody urine and stools, and at 11 A.M. he breathed his last.” 
The following cases are recorded by Dr. Woodford, Police 
Surgeon of Calcutta :—■ 
“Nadar Chunder, a Bengalee Hindoo, aged nine years, was 
bitten at 2 a.m. of July 29th, 1870. The boy was sleeping on 
the floor by the side of his father, in a hut in Simla Street, 
Calcutta : he woke his father, calling out * I am bitten.’ The 
father states that the child screamed; was convulsed and 
foamed at the mouth. There was no treatment; he died in 
fifteen minutes. The body was examined at about 9 a.m. of 
the 29th, or about seven hours after death. Rigor mortis was 
complete within an hour after death. The lungs were en¬ 
gorged with blood. Heart firm, both sides filled with liquid 
blood ; great vessels natural. The abdominal viscera generally 
were congested. The blood remained fluid, it did not coagulate. 
The brain substance was firm and natural.” 
Note by Dr. Fayrer: The blood of this hoy did not coagu¬ 
late when set aside after death, under microscope the red globules 
were crenated, and did not adhere to each other. There were 
no new cell forms. Forty drops of the blood were injected 
hypodermically into a fowl’s thigh. The bird was perhaps 
somewhat sluggish after it, but no evil result followed; it 
recovered. 
“ Gungadhur Mookerjee, Brahmin, aged forty-five years, was 
bitten by a Cobra at 9.45 p.m. Aug. 7th, 1870. He had gone 
out of his house in Sham Pookoor, Calcutta, to pass water, and 
returned immediately, saying he had been bitten by a large 
snake. He became insensible in about ten minutes. He said 
he felt heated, but refused water before he became unconscious. 
No treatment was adopted ; he was dead in fifteen minutes. 
The body was examined sixteen hours after death. The lungs 
were engorged with blood. The right side of the heart was 
distended with fluid blood. Left side full of fluid blood. 
Great vessels natural. The abdominal viscera were congested, 
and the stomach contained a quantity of milk. The blood was 
quite fluid, not coagulable. Brain vessels full of blood. Serum 
effused between convolutions. Rigor mortis occurred in an 
hour after death.” 
The following cases are recorded by Dr. Yerchere, Station 
Staff Surgeon, Barrackpoor. The snakes were most probably 
Cobras :—- 
“ Achloo, Coolie, aged thirty-two, was sleeping in the hut of 
a sweetmeat-maker in the Sudder Bazaar, Barrackpoor; there 
