THE THANATOPHIDIA OF INDIA. 
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tliere five or six days, when I became sensible ag^iin. All this 
took place at Bahadurpore in the courtyard of Moosum: be is 
not related to the prisoners, neither did be assist them. Some 
five or six other men besides we four were made to sit down 
by the prisoners in order that the snake might be made to bite 
them; but owing to the snake becoming weak, they were 
not bitten. Seeing all the above, they ran away.’ ’" 
2. “ Bechoo Sirdar, son of Dookhun, aged twenty-two years, 
Moosahar of Manikpore, Pergunnah Secundra, Zillah Monghyr, 
labourer. ‘ The prisoners Poonai and Joomun were in Assin 
teaching Titroo, Menghon, Jikree, Itwarree, Laloo, &c., some ten 
men, snake incantations, and I was also being taught by them. 
At length, on a Sunday night, the prisoners produced from an 
earthern pot two Kraits and a Keautiah, snakes, and began to 
teach us the incantations, and began to make the snakes move 
about in front of us all. We became afraid, whereupon the 
prisoners said, Why do you fear ? If the snakes bite you, we 
are gooroos , and will soon restore you. After this they made us 
place our right hands on the ground, and began to make the 
big Krait snake move towards our heads, we immediately from 
fear raised our hands. Upon this the prisoners struck us with 
rattans, and when the snake moved to a distance we again 
placed our hands on the ground. Then the prisoners took the 
snakes near to Titroo, Menghon, Jikree, and Itwarree, and 
made the snake, by striking it with a rattan, bite Titroo on 
the forefinger of the right hand ; the throat of Titroo imme¬ 
diately became dry, and he became senseless ; then the snake 
was made to bite Menghon on the forefinger of the right hand, 
but Menghon did not suffer or become senseless. After this 
the snake was made to bite Jikree on the right hand ; he did 
not either become senseless, but remained talking. Then the 
snake was made to bite Itwarree on the right wrist; he did not 
appear to suffer. Then Titroo died two hours before dawn, 
and the prisoners then ran away. We went in search of them, 
and at 10 a.m. we found them and seized them in a rice-field at 
Gurnabaree, west of the road, and took them to Bahadurpore. 
We told them to restore Titroo to life again, but they could not 
do it, but went and sat down at a distance. Then the police 
came, and we made the prisoners over to them. 
“ ‘ I heard Menghon and Jikree died on the day following; 
Itwarree was placed on a cart and brought to hospital. When 
Titroo became senseless the prisoners tried to recover the snake, 
which became torpid after biting Itwarree. The prisoners took 
the snake with them when they went off. I did not see them 
let go by the prisoners. We were to pay one or two rupees for 
being taught; we were told that if we were bitten by a snake, 
in repeating the incantations, and fanning the snake, we should 
recover.’ 
“ Two other witnesses are examined, but they give similar 
evidence to the preceding. 
“ The information and deposition of Mr. David Picachy, Civil 
Surgeon of Purneah, taken before me, J. B. Muspratt, Sessions 
Judge of Purneah, at Purneah, on the twelfth day of January, 
18G9, who being put on his oath, saith as follows : 
Ques. —“Did you examine the bodies of Titroo, Menghon, 
and Jikree ? 
Ans. —“ Yes, I did, and found that they had died from the 
effects of snake-poison. There was nothing abnormal about 
their internal organs, which could be said to be the result of 
disease. 
Ques. —“ In what way did the three bodies exhibit the effects 
of snake-poison? 
Ans. —“Externally there were the marks of snake-bites on their 
hands and arms, and internally the blood was in a fluid state, 
and the brain vessels deeply congested ; the former state—viz., 
the fluid state of the blood—being particularly indicative of 
snake-poison. 
Ques. —“ Did you examine the wound of Itwarree ? 
Ans. —“ Yes, and found a scratch on the fore-arm; he was 
partially senseless when received into Hospital, but could reply 
to questions I put to him. His wound or scratch looked like 
that which would be inflicted by a snake. I treated him with 
ammonia for three days, when he recovered. 
Ques. —“ How do you account for the escape of Itwarree, the 
other three having died ? 
Ans. —“ He was the last person bitten, and must have received 
less poison than the others. 
Ques. —“Was he in your opinion suffering from the bite of a 
poisonous snake? 
Ans. —“ Yes, he was lethargic and depressed; there was very 
slight swelling about the scratch. The wounds on the three 
dead bodies presented a livid appearance, and the corpses were 
swollen and in a semi-decomposed state, resulting from rapid 
chemical change after death by animal poison.” 
These men were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the 
Sessions Judge of Purneah, which sentence was confirmed on 
ajipeal by the High Court of Calcutta. 
The snakes, as described by the witnesses, were two Kraits, 
(Bungarus ccendeus ) and one Keautiah ( Cobra di Capella), the 
variety with one ocellus on the hood. The larger snake, said 
to be a Bungarus, bit four men ; three died, one appears to have 
narrowly escaped. 
The following cases are reported by the Civil Medical Officer 
of Bancoorah, Bengal:— 
Jeebun Paul, a Hindoo, aged fourteen years, was bitten while 
asleep on the night of June 13th, 1870, at his house in the 
village of Bishenpore by a snake (either a Naja tripudians or 
Bungarus cceruleus most probably). Pie did not come under 
observation, and died on the 14th (number of hours after the 
bite could not be ascertained). The body was examined twenty- 
nine hours after death, and the following morbid appearances 
noted. The lungs were very much congested, especially the 
posterior lobes. The heart and great vessels were filled with 
fluid blood. The abdominal viscera were more or less congested. 
The blood was fluid and non-coagulable. The brain was highly 
congested, and the lateral ventricles contained fluid. Cadaveric 
rigidity present, especially of the lower extremities, when the 
body was examined. 
Duary Ghose, a male Hindoo, aged eighteen years, was 
bitten on the night of June 24th, 1870, by a snake (most pro¬ 
bably a Cobra), at the village of Oudab. No symptoms were 
noted, and he was treated by some native Kobirajes, but died 
three hours after receiving the bite. The body was examined 
thirty hours after death. The lungs were somewhat congested. 
The heart contained a small quantity of fluid blood. The ab¬ 
dominal viscera were congested slightly. The blood was fluid 
and non-coagulable. The brain was congested. Cadaveric 
rigidity was present, although decomposition had commenced. 
I am also indebted to Mr. Richards of Bancoorah for the 
following case of Cobra bite :— 
“ Had I been less of a sceptic in regard to antidotes to snake- 
poison, I might have been induced to expatiate on the infalli¬ 
bility of the treatment adopted in this case. But I am inclined 
to believe notwithstanding the wound, the bleeding, and the 
intense swelling, that the bite was an imperfect one, and that 
any other treatment, and indeed no treatment, would have been 
equally successful. The case, however, is extremely interesting, 
more particularly on account of its demonstrating how £ infallible 
