128 
THANATOPHIDIA OF INDIA. 
ministered to a Fowl at 12.38 p.m., by the mouth. 1.2.— 
Tail droops and the bird is crouching. 1.5.—Defecation. 
2.—Appears drowsy. 10.—Very drowsy. 
September lltli.—Crouching. 
September 12th.—Is slightly drowsy, and crouching. Two 
drops of poison taken from another fresh middling-sized Ban¬ 
ff arus cmruleus were given at 4.30 p.m. 5. Is very drowsy. 
5.49.—Very sleepy, and squatting down. 6.30.—Squatting 
still; head drooping. 9. : —Convulsed. 10.5. Dead in five 
hours and twenty-five minutes from the second application, or 
rather administration of the poison. 
Experiment No. 26. 
A very small quantity of poison taken from a small 
Krait (Bung arm cceruleus) was diluted with a drop of 
water and applied to the conjunctiva of a Fowl at 1 p.m. 
4.—Very drowsy; crouching. 6.—Same state. 9.—Is very 
drowsy, and squatting down. 10.15.—-Beak resting on the 
ground, and the head drooping on one side. 10.38.—Con¬ 
vulsed. 11.—Dead—in ten hours. In this instance, however, 
the poison was not only applied once, but it was diluted. In 
the former experiment the Fowl had been brought under the 
influence of the poison previous to the second administration. 
September 20 th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 27. 
An old Bull was bitten by a large vigorous Krait (Bungarus 
< cteruleus ) in the groin twice at 8 a.m. My snake-man having 
objected to take part in an experiment on this animal, I had 
to manage as best I could, and the consequence was the snake 
was some time before it could be made to bite. It bit 
ultimately, however, most savagely. 2 p.m.—S taggers as it 
walks. 3.3.—Is tying down ; salivation and profuse discharge 
from the nostrils; tongue protrudes from the mouth on one 
side; is much purged. 4.—Breathing hard and making a low, 
moaning sound with each expiration; legs occasionally convulsed. 
4.45.— Dead—in eight hours and three-quarters. Blood coagu¬ 
lated, but not very firmly, after being taken from the body. 
September 21th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 28. 
An Ox was bitten by a nearly full-grown Dciboia in the groin 
at 11 a.m. 12.45 p.m.—I s a little unsteady on his legs. 1.5.— 
Is tying down. 2.—Walking about very unsteadily; lame with 
the right hind-leg. 6.—Eying down ; seems very weak; the 
bitten part is swelling rapidly ; gives occasional short, quick, 
forcible expirations. 
September 28th, 8 a.m.—A ppears better, but is very drowsy 
and weak. 8.30.—The Baboia of yesterday and a smaller one 
were made to bite the animal again in the groin. 9.—The 
groin and right thigh are very much swollen. I notice several 
bleeding points about the skin. This the snake-man told me 
would be the case, but I doubted it. 10.—Is very costive; 
endeavours to defecate, but cannot. 4 p.m.—I s standing up ; 
the bitten parts are enormously swollen. 
September 29th.—To-day the animal is looking very drowsy, 
and is made to walk with difficulty ; the legs are in the same 
swollen state. 
September 30th.—Is quite well; has been purged; the 
swelling is rapidly decreasing. In this instance neither of the 
snakes was fresh, and both had been used recently in experi¬ 
ments. 
September 28 th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 29. 
An Ox was bitten in the thigh by a full-grown Cobra, which 
had not only been kept in captivity for a long time, but was 
casting its skin. 3 p.m.—D oes not seem affected; possibly the 
flings were broken. 3.40.—Bitten by another Cobra (“ Kala 
Kurrees ”) that had been in my possession for some time. 6.— 
Appears very weak and is much purged. 
September 29th.-—Is pretty well, but weak; purging still 
continues. 
September 30th.—Recovered. Was bitten by a vigorous 
‘ Gokurrah Kurrees,” which had been in my possession only a 
short time, on the inside of the upper lip at 9 a.m. 10.—Ts 
very drowsy, and is slightly salivated. 1 p.m. —Convulsed; the 
pait bitten is not much swollen. 1.30.—Dead—in four hours 
and a half. The blood was firmly coagulated in the heart and 
great vessels. 
The above experiments demonstrate how much the fatality of 
the bite of a snake depends upon the condition of the snake at 
the time it bites. 
Experiments on the effect of the Tanjore Pill in Snake-Poisoning. 
The following experiments were made at my request by Mr. 
Richards, of Bancoorah, to test the efficacy of the so-called Tan¬ 
jore pill. I am indebted to Mr. Gribbons, of Messrs. Scott, 
Thompson s, for the pills, which were made up according to the 
formula given in Dr. P. Russell’s Work on Indian Serpents,* and 
must have cost much trouble m the preparation, for some of 
the ingredients are difficult to procure. They were adminis¬ 
tered in accordance with the instructions m Russell. Even the 
application of the Fowl s liver was not omitted. Two or three 
of the experiments are suggestive of good results, but they are 
also suggestive of large animals probably imperfectly bitten. 
The other experiments, as well as many I have myself made, 
dispel the idea that this antidote is any more effective than 
others that have been tried. 
October 4 th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 30. 
At. 3.30 p.m. on the 3rd of October an old Bull was bitten 
in the thigh very vigorously by a fine fresh Cobra (“ Kala 
Kurrees”), four feet seven inches long, which had just been 
brought from the jungle. The bitten part was well incised, 
the liver of a fowl rubbed in, and one of the “ Tanjore” pills 
mixed with warm water was administered at once. 4.45.— 
The animal appears perfectly well; is walking about and 
grazing; another pill mixed with warm water was given. 
6.10.—Appears perfectly well, and is grazing still. 7.5.— 
Another pill administered, appears perfectly well, and is quite 
strong. 10. In the same state. 11.25.—Standing up and is 
perfectly well; the skin is very sensitive. 
October 5th, 8 a.m. —Well. 5 p.m. —Perfectly well. 
This animal never exhibited a single symptom of poisoning. 
He was not even rendered sluggish. 
Experiment No. 31. 
With a view of testing the powers of the snake used in 
the former experiment, I made it bite a Fowl in the thigh at 
11.26 a.m. 11.27.—Drowsy. 11.28.—Lying down and is gasp¬ 
ing. 11.31.—Same state. 11.35.—Convulsed. 11.36.—Dead— 
in ten minutes. 
This leaves no doubt as to the power of the snake to poison. 
Experiment No. 32. 
At 12.52 p.m. a Groat was bitten in the groin by a fine fresh 
* From Russell's Indian Serpents. 
Tanjoee Pills. 
Tate White Arsenic. 
„ Roots of Velli-navi. 
„ Roots of ISTeri Vishana. 
„ Kernal of ISTervalam. 
„ Black Pepper. 
,, Quicksilver, of each equal quantities. 
Juice of the Wild Cotton (“Mudar”) sufficient to make into a mass, and divide 
into five grain pills. Bach pill contains a little over half a grain each of quick¬ 
silver and arsenic. 
These pills are given in doses of one or two, and at intervals of an hour; in some 
cases not so frequently. 
A Fowl’s liver is also to be applied directly to the bite which is scarified. 
