CASES OF SNAKE-BITE. 
51 
poisoning by opium. No fhiicl under dura mater. Brain tissue 
soft; no points of vascularity; the vascularity appears to be con¬ 
fined to the engorged pia mater. Ventricles empty and appa¬ 
rently quite normal. Cerebellum very soft. Pons Varolii almost 
creamy in consistence. The whole cerebellum is so soft that the 
striae of grey and white matter cannot be recognised. 
“ Remarks. —Hair not easily pulled off. Nails of finders 
blue; nails of toes not blue, not even on the bitten toe.” 
The following brief notes of a case of snake-bite are re¬ 
corded by Sub-Assistant Surgeon Woomesh Chunder Boy of 
Monghyr :— 
“On July 17th, 1869, a Hindoo woman named Jitnee was 
bitten by a snake, called in the description an adder. It was 
seen to spring at her arm. She tore it off; it again sprang at 
her breast; she again tore it off, and it escaped. No further 
particulars are given. Nothing is said of the symptoms, nor 
of the duration of life after the bite, except that she died the 
same day, and that the body on examination was found to pre¬ 
sent the following appearances. Lungs congested ; right lung 
adherent to the wall of the chest. Heart. —Bight ventricle full 
of blackish-red frothy blood. Left ventricle also contained a 
small quantity of black frothy blood. Liver and spleen, 
stomach and intestines, healthy. Kidneys congested. Brain 
congested. One can only conjecture that the snake may have 
been the Daboia russellii or the Echis carinata, though I am 
not aware that the Helds has been found in this part of India.” 
The following cases are reported by Mr. Picachy, Civil 
Surgeon at Purneah :— 
“ Nirmull, a Hindoo, aged thirty, was bitten by a snake at 
noon on May 1st, at a village named Durgapore, in Purneah. 
He was fishing in a pool of water when bitten. The snake was 
not seen. No details are given, but it is reported that he died 
in twelve hours. The body was thrown into a river and unfor¬ 
tunately could not be recovered for post-mortem examination. 
The case is curious, as the bite is said to have occurred in a pool 
of water. It may have been either the Cobra or Krait, as there 
is no venomous freshwater snake. But in the absence of further 
information the case is not free from the suspicion that death 
may have been due to other causes.” 
“ Jontee, a Bengali weaver, aged thirty years, was bitten at 
about 4 p.m. of Sept. 9th, 1870. When watering paddy in a 
field he came upon a rat-liole full of grain, put his hand in to 
examine it, and was bitten by the snake which was in the hole. 
It was seen and described by the natives to be a ‘ Baira Bora. 5 
Mr. Picachy believes it to have been the Daioia russellii. 
This occurred in a paddy field in a village in Purneah. The 
only symptom noted by the police who reported the case was 
swelling of the hand. He was treated by the natives with 
incantations and charms. Death occurred in about fourteen 
hours. The body was examined, and the lungs were found to 
be slightly engorged. The heart and great vessels contained 
fluid dark-coloured blood. The blood remained fluid and dark 
after death. The brain was healthy. There was no cadaveric 
rigidity, it is stated, when the body was examined. 
“Notes of post-mortem examination of the body of Mundo 
Bouri, aged about twenty-seven years, July 14th, 1870. 1. Ex¬ 
ternal appearances. —Autopsy twenty-one hours after death. 
Fang marks only just visible above the right elbow. Bigor 
mortis present. 2. Head. —Brain highly congested, and when 
cut exhibited a great number of bleeding points. 3. Chest. _ 
Embolism of heart, as also of the great vessels ; otherwise these 
oigans normal. There was a small quantity of fluid in the 
pericardium. Lungs very much congested, and when cut into, 
a red, frothy mucus escaped. 4. Abdomen.— All organs normal 
“ Remarks. — This man was bitten by a Krait ( Bungarus cceru- 
leus ), and died in nine hours. Out of fourteen cases examined 
by me, this is the only instance in which I found coagulated 
blood in the body. 
“Notes of post-mortem examination of the body of Bolai 
Bouri, aged about forty-five years, Aug. 10th, 1870. 1 . External 
appearances. —Autopsy eighteen hours after death. Bigor 
mortis present, especially of the lower extremities. The right 
ear and parts below it were swollen, but no fang marks were 
observable. 2. Head. —Sinuses full of dark fluid blood. Brain 
congested, and when cut into, numerous bleeding points were 
observed; a small quantity of fluid in the lateral. ventricles. 
3. Chest. Heai t healthy, and contained fluid blood. Lungs very 
much congested, and when cut a dark frothy fluid exuded. 4. 
Abdomen. Liver much congested. Stomach slightly congested. 
Spleen rather large. Kidneys highly congested. Other organs 
normal.” 
I he following cases of death from snake-bite were also in¬ 
vestigated by Mr. Picachy. The Beport is condensed from the 
Sessions Beport of the trial:— 
Poonai Fatrnah and Joomun Fatmah are brought to trial for 
having, “on or about Oct. 11th, 1868, at Hurdali, Zillah Pur¬ 
neah, committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 
by causing the deaths of Titroo, Menghon, and Jikree.” 
1. “Itwarree Mussahar, son of Dhunpat, aged twenty years, 
Moosahar of Bacha, Pergunnah Soorujgurrah, Zillah Monghyr, 
labourer. ‘ I cannot recollect day or month. I came to Cliitra- 
pore, Zillah Purneah, being engaged to make bricks for the 
Darjeeling and Caragola road, and was learning how to charm 
snakes from the two prisoners, Poonai and Joomun. At leno-th 
tD ' 
on a Sunday, the prisoners wanted to make the snake bite me. 
I did not wish the snake to bite me on any part of the body. 
They then pulled my ears in a tyrannical manner, and said, 
Why are you afraid? If the snake does bite, we will charm 
you, and recover you. Then they brought three snakes, two 
Kraits and one Keautiah; the latter a young snake, but all 
were poisonous. The two smaller snakes they put aside, and 
one large Krait two laths long, they placed in front of us, and 
made Titroo place his right hand on the ground, and made the 
snake crawl on to his hand ;• but at first the snake did not bite 
him, then Poonai struck the snake with a cane, and the snake 
immediately bit Titroo on his right forefinger. After this, in 
the same manner the snake was made to bite Menghon on the 
right hand, and then in the same manner the right hand of 
Jikree. After this, in the same manner the snake was made 
to bite me on the right wrist: the snake then appeared to be 
dead. After this, the prisoners having made incantations over 
the snake brought it to life again, and having placed some 
vermilion on its head, let it go free in a paddy field. After 
the snake had bitten Titroo he was attacked with great thirst, 
and began to foam at the mouth : he became senseless. At 
one pahur of the night remaining, Titroo was bitten, and he 
died half an hour before daybreak. Menghon and Jikree 
appeared well after Titroo’s death; the poison did not seem 
to have affected them. The prisoners then ran away; 
Menghon and Jikree returned to their houses, and I heard 
they died there at mid-day. I was then senseless after I was 
bitten, my body and head began to turn round, and great 
perspiration commenced, with severe pain in the stomach, and 
my eyesight became dim, then I became senseless. I was 
brought from Bahadurpore to the Hospital, and remained 
