December
1,1876.]
TFIE SNAKE-STONE.?BY A. ETESON.
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. THE SNAKE-STONE.
By
Alfred Eteson,
Surgeon-Major, Sappers
and
Miners, Roorkce.
Recent scientific investigation into the qualities and mode of action of snake-poison, and the various antidotes which have have
admittedly closed with disappointment and In rending over the Several published accounts, I have failure. been surprised that inquiry has not been more closely directed to what is commonly called the snake-stone. It is true that an essential of its use requires that it should adhere to the surface of the skin, and hence there may have been extreme difficulty in causing it to adhere to the hairy coats of the animals under experiment; and this may have led to the remedy being put aside as unsuitable, though there would appear to be no great difficulty in having the flank of a dog well shaved before applying the bite first, and then the antidote. Again, there is no doubt, as a remedy, it has, in common with many others, serious drawbacks ; for example, we cannot all of ns carry about a snake-stone, and its virtue is said to depart by exposure to the air; and if it is kept in some private corner, the chances tried,
been
are very great, that no one can find it when it is wanted. On the other hand it appears certain that the snake-charmers, those men who may be said to live with snakes, have, for many generations, maintained their faith in its properties, and to this day invariably have one in their possession, and apply it at once to the wound, shoald they receive a bite while performing. Thev
also chew, and perform certain passes with the root of aristolochia and one or two other serpent-worts, but so far as I have
understand, their partiality for these rests almost similarity of shape and appearance to a snake, and to the effect their appearance has on the gullibility of the ignorant bystanders, while all their trust is reposed on the been able to
entirely
on
their
virtue of the snake-stone alone.
Now I will take it as admitted, that the snake-charmers do seize and handle poisonous snakes, as indeed do many others -who are not snake-charmers. I have myself repeatedly made experiments with the snakes of chance-strollers and seen their
fatal results ; and further there are few of them, but have a sad to tell of their own relatives who have fallen victims (either through rashness, or drinking, or carelessness) to the saake with btory
familiar. It is quite true that many of their snakes can be examined and the fangs found wanting, but it is also are reproduced, as indeed one would be led to certain that which
they
were
they
are the only natural weapon of defence to the most helpless creatures; and it is doubtful if anything, the gland duct, except the actual cautery to the dental sac or would cause If, therefore, the snake-charm-
expect seeing they
permanent innocuity.
ers
do
run
a
continual hazard of
poisonous bites,
the antidote
which they constantly employ should be more closely examined, for it is difficult to realize their continued existence without something of value to guard against accident. I am quite aware of the claim they make to have been gradually inoculated, and to
it were venom proof. But such partial theory seems that they could to me insufficient, and I feel inclined to insist not exist as a class from generation to generation unless they be
as
did possess an antidote. In 1855, I was Assistant
Surgeon in medical charge of the artillery division at Thayet Myo, British Burmah, and formed an acquaintance with the Reverend C. Pacchiotti, Roman Catholic priest at that station. One day, in conversation, he asked me how I treated snake-bites, and I replied that I had seen very few, and those I had seen were remarkable for merely local effects; that no one, I had seen, presented any symptoms of constitutional or general poison, but only intense local pain and inflammation, necessitating active leeching, fomentation, and anodynes. In fact, I remember a yunner of my battery was bitten after d..rk, j uat below
309
the ankle, and mortification threatened theentire limb, the swelling being excessive with deep discolouration as high as the groin. This lasted nearly two days and I applied over 150 leeches before the
circulation recovered, yet never for a moment was the man insensible or even incoherent, indeed he did most of the leeching and fomenting for himself. Father Pacchiotti begged me always to use the snake-stone, with which his Mission was supplied. He added that they (the priests) had all used it for manj years with unvarying success, and that a good stone never failed. I had never seen or heard of them, and I covered my ignorance, as is commonly the case, with a cloak of medical ethics, viz., that I ought not to use anything with the composition of which I was not acquainted. Ho could not tell me how they were made, only that the priest at Bassein made for the whole Misbut he assured me their manufacture must be very simple it was handed from one to another from time to time without any special fitness; ultimately I accepted a stone from him and
sion, as
it by me in the event of an opportunity arising for its use. The stone, so called, was a flat piece of calcined horn, threequarters of an incli square, and one and a half line thick and so resembled a quickflint, except that all the edges were squared, and it was very smooth, with an even grain of close cancellations
kept
clearly visible.
I
kept
it
wrapped
in flannel in the dark of my
desk-drawer. A short time afterwards I had occasion to use it. A grasscutter of my battery came walking to my house, holding his wrist with one hand and writhing in extreme pain. I found the double, just behind the knuckle of the middle
punctures
of the hand. A congested swelling was the man sit down in my room just as he made I beginning; was, and I pressed down the stone over the punctures?it adhered at once. I removed my fingers, then sloped his hand, and turned it round, lastly, I drew on the stone with moderate force
finger
on
the back
In about quarter sucker would do. himself first mentioned that the stone was loosed ; I touched it with one finger, and it became displaced. I put it, as directed, in some fresh-milk, which, I think, I remember to have seen become curdled and in parts pale yellow, and then replaced the stone once more in dry flannel; meanwhile the patient returned to the lines quite well. The pain had entirely gone, there was still some swelling, but nothing angry or indicating irritation in either the punctures or surrounding parts. So far as I am concerned, this until it lifted the skin
of
an
hour the
as a
patient
only instance in which the use of the snake-stone has under my personal observation. It is not worth much, for the identity of the snake and the precise conditions of the bite were not established, but at all events the stoue did what it was professed it would do, and there was no suspicion of the is the
come
man
having
been otherwise than
genuinely
bitten.
On my return to Bengal in 1857, I brought away the stone and soon after I had an opportunity of showing it to some snakecharmers.
I could see that they were greatly surprised at its size and appearance of manufacture. Their own, I need scarcely say, are nearly all small, rounded, and pebble-shaped, in order to correspond with their statements to the wondering uublic that found in the brain of
a toad, or fall from the sky in Himalayan valley; but I could not mistake that they recognized it as genuine, though they spoke of it among themselves in a broken patois which I did not understand. They were very anxious I should give it to them, and they
they
some
are
unknown
asked me how 1 had made it. I kept this stone until 1S61 without ever having another chance of trying it. It used to be wrapped in flannel and
kept stoppered bottle of dark filass. I then lost it by lending it to an Assistant-engineer, D. P. W., from whom it was either stolen or mislaid by servants. He and I were together at Mahona dak bungabw on the Gwalior and Seepree road where his work lay, and as he kept a tame mongoose (Herpestes griscusj we used to have the usual fights between it and in a
the INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
310
cobras. I may mention here the end of that mongoose, which differs somewhat from the results of the experiments mnde on the animal by the Snake Commission. One day we had a very large and vicious cobra brought, fresh captured, and iu its natural
[December 1,
9? Lorsqti 'on s'en est servi, on decharge le venin qu'a aspire la pierre en In laissant reposer clans du lait. This is, Sir, what I know about the remedy ; may God help you in
We let loose the pet mongoose which attacked the snake in the usual manner by circling round until he saw the opportunity for a rush, and seizing the snake by the head. This he
trying
that process for the
help
condition.
had done very successfully, and was busy biting and wringing the cobra, when the man who brought it interceded very earnestly for the life of the snake which was at that moment entirely the
at
mercy ; accordingly we released it and took the But the snake lying, as it were, almost dead, one suggested it would be best to let the mongoose finish So again he was set at the snake, but to our surprise the
some
him. latter reared himself
again for the fight, and though his head was bruised and bleeding, he fronted the foe bravely. A second time the mongoose rushed in, but on this occasion the cobra seized it across the loins, held it off the ground, and shook it like a rat. sorely
The mougoose apparently would not seize the snake except by the and this it could not reach, lithe as it was. We quickly killed the snake and rescued the pet, but it was done for. ]t was paralyzed below the loins, and though we took every care of
head,
day after a convulsion of a few moments. quite sensible and knew its master as before. There was not one sign of poisoning As I had lost my stone, I set about trying to get another. Father Pacchiotti had gone to Europe, but remembering that he had said the stones were all made by the priest at Bassein, it, it died the
Up
I drew He
next
the last it
to
was
a venture, and wrote to ask him for one. follows : "Bassein, 27th March 1862.
bow at
a
replied
?
as
" Sir.?I received to-day your letter, dated Lueknow, 8th March 1862. F. C. Pacchiotti, you knew in Burmah, left two He will not come again. Ho years ago the Mission for home. was sick and thought the climate of Europe will restore him. I am sorry to say I am not able to send you presently any
of those stones you wish; though I know the process to make them. But I hope I will have the pleasure of sending never tried.
I
few of them in
a
of them,
short
I asked my fellow medicine, to make
delay ; as, wanting myself some priest of Myomnya, who is an able some
few for
our own
man
for
use.
in making knowt\ to you the process; you can prepare that useful remedy You will excuse my writing in French ; I, perhaps, may miss in some English expression that would misdirect you. It (is) I
happy
am
try yourself
to
easier for you to have a good understanding by the French. 'Mode de preparation de la pierre contre la morsure des
serpents:
?
1" Cooper (scier) en forme de pierre a fusil lapartie dure d'une belle corne de cerf. 2? Polir ces petites pierres en les frottant sur une pierre a
aiguiser
en
outre.
Les faire tremper
3?
en
suite huit heures dans du bon vinai-
gre. Prendre un petit pot de terre (chatty), les placer dedans milieu de 1'ecorce du riz (ce qui enveloppe le grain de " paddy") sans qu'elles se touchent mutuellement. Remplir le pot de oette ecorce; fermer liermetiquement le pot avec de la ti i re
4?
au
qui
colle le couvert. Mettre le tout
au milieu d'un petit feu, fait en bidlent de cette meme ecorce de riz. LaisSez cuire pendant 12 heures. 6? Apves la cuisson faire tremper de nouveau les pierres des lors noires et calcinees dans du boa vinaigre pendant sept
5?
heures.
7?
Retirer les pierres. Celles la settlement sont bonnes qui a la peau mouillee', e.g. aux levres ; elles font l'effe1
s'attachent d'une
ventouse.
Pour les conserver, les mettre de I'air. 8?
dans du coton
a
l'abri
of the poor sick. Tours truly, Paul
Dumollard, Mm. Apost
This letter
was
followed
by another, which I had better give some interesting details regarding the
as it contains manufacture and use of the stoues:?
entire,
mongoose's
mongoose away.
LS76.
"
Bassein, 10 th June 1862.
Sir,?I received this morning your kind letter, and I have the pleasure to join to my answer a stone which I received a few days ago from my friend of Myomnyo, Out of sixty stones he prepared, six only had been found useful; "Mi
dear
of those six he gave me three; one for you, one for another person that called on me for one; and the last for me, which [ had occasion to employ the next day. One of my people having been bitten, I employed the stone successfully. For more security, I joined to the stone three or four drops of alkali volatil in a glass of water, and as much as a pea of inadure composition. The stone proved to be good. I asked the reason of so many stones lost in the preparation. I was answered that the horn employed was too tender; the deer was young, and the horn new. I am not able to say whether a special quality of deer is required. I think all kinds of horns are good, provided they would be hard and sound. The stone must be kept carefully closed without communication with the air. Yours sincerely, Paul Dumollard, Miss. Apost." I never had any opportunity of trying the new stone sent me, and I must have lost it for some years. The only ones I now have I bought from travelling snake-charmers, and even those I have never used. In truth, one is puzzled to reconcile the astonishing statistics of deaths from snake-bite given in the Mortuary Registers with one's own personal experience. I have been in Iioorkee nearly nine years, and have had the civil medical duties in addition to my regimental charge ; and during the whole time (in a lucky hour be it spoken) I can recall only four cases, of which two were fatal before they were seen by me, in the third it was a very doubtful point if the man wa, really bitten, and one I only heard of. And looking backs though twenty years in India, I can only speak of like experience, and one feels rather incredulous about so many thousands dying in a single district every year, when a population of at least
10,000 remains under close observation for many years, with no such cause of mortality being proved. However, Father Dumollard's directions are exceedingly simple, and may be easily carried ouc by any one who reads this paper. I presume the horn ought not to be very old. Such, for example, as may have been handed down from subaltern to subaltern, as a house decoration since 1801. My object in bringing this before the profession is to have a more extended trial. It is not by one medical man keeping such an antidote that the facts are safely recorded.
be easily made, and in abundance, by any one opportunity of treating snake-bites, and I presume few can be so fortunate (or unfortunate, whichever it may be called) in that respect as I have been. And again, it is so easily carried and is so easily distributed, that this is an advantage in regard of making the remedy available. But it is clear from the repeated precautions given, that dryness and exclusion from the air are essential to maintain the absorbent power. I hope that if others are induced to manufacture and experiment with it, that The stone who has an
can
will be taken to record the cases. The stones as the priest describes, the cases should be undoubted, and the observations just. It must always be borne in mind that this is not written in praise of any recent theoretical
extreme
care
should be
cure, but
good
simply explains
the way of
making the stones,
after
December 1,
THE SNAKE-STOHE.-BY A. ETESON.
1S7G-]
in common and secret use as a cure for many and that the object is to ascertain if the stones have any virtue whatever, by placing them under trial by scientific observers under various conditions.
liaving been generations,
I conclude by transcribing in a condensed form the remarks of two eminent writers on the snake-stone which are clearly very near the truth as to its manufacture and composition. It is " that the manufacture was a very singular that the tradition secret with the monks of Manilla" should be noted by Sir E.
Tennent; for no doubt the way to make the stones would be first learnt from the natives, as a secret, by the Roman Catholic missionaries, and then the process would be handed down from the other. It is
one
to
the
changes
of
quite idle discussing the manner of cure, deompositioa which occur under incineration, or
the actual absorbent power of the snake-stone. In the event of any one observing a case successfully, it is suggested that the milk by which (para. 9) the snake-stone is purified, should be subsequently tested by condensation for the presence of poison,
inoculating a small bird, such as a pigeon. Ceylon, by Sir J. E. Tennent, 5th Edition, 1860, Vol. I.,
and then p. 197.
Tamboo-Kaloo. "The
of the
pamboo-kaloo, or snake-stone, ns a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singalese by the itinerant snake-charmers use
who resort to the island from the Coasts of than
instance,
of its successful
Coromandel;
and
application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses to what they described. On one occasion a friend of mine was riding, with some other civil officers of the Government, along a jungie-path in the vicinity of Siritenne, when they saw one of two Tamils, who were approaching them, suddenly dart into the forest, and return holding in both hands a cobra di capello which he had seized by the head and tail. He called to his compunion for assistance to place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he handled it so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger, and more
one
retained its hold for a few seconds, as if unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waist-cloth, and took from it two snake-stones, each of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly
polished, though of an extremely light substance. These he applied one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, the blood that oozed to which they attached themselves closely, from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off of their own accord ; the suffering of the man appeared to have subsided; he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way without While this had been going on, another Indian of the concern. a party who had come up took from his bag small piece of white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, which the latter immediately inclined close to the ground ; he then lifted the snake without hesitation, and it coiled into a circle at the bottom of his basket. The root by which he professed to be enabled to perform this with safety, he called the naya-thalee kalinga (the
operation
root
of the
ability
to
snake-plant,)
approach
any
protected by which he professed his
reptile
with
impunity."
Sir J. E. Tennent does not mention whether his friend who witnessed the above recorded use of the snake-stone was a European. But if the party consisted, as is probable, of European Civilians, then the whole narrative reads exactly like the tricks of their trade practised
by snake-charmers all over India. It was clearly gang who met the Civilians ; the meeting was not accidental but pre-arranged; the cobra was not wild, b it had often Wnt his head to the earth before his master with or witha
professional
oat " the white root," and the bite was simply an additional element in the extraction of rupees. It would have been iuo:e satisfactory if the snake had been isolated for future examination ; if the adherence of the stone had been ascertained to be real ; and especially whether any changes in its condition before and after the
application liad been observed. But in this, as in other matters, the wonderful or the miraculous chain the senses, and draw to them the whole attention; while the homely commonplace mechanism of the trick passes unnoticed. When a crowd assembles round a conjurer, all eyes are instinctively turned to see a bird let loose, or three balls thrown up in the air, or a gun fired; they suppose the trick is in these, and thi'n all go away declaring they never removed their eyes from the cloth which concealed the changed mango tree, or the little child accomplice. " In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, then District
Judge of Knndy, informed me that he saw a snake-charmer in the jungle, close by the town, search for a cobra di capello, and, after disturbing it in its retreat, the man tried to secure but in the attempt he was bitten in the thigh till blood
it,
He instantly applied the pamlootrickled from the wound. kaloo, which adhered closcly for about ten minutes, during which time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and forwards above the stone till the latter dropped
ground. He assured Mr. Lavalliere that all danger then past. That gentleman obtained from him the snakestone he had relied on, and saw him repeatedly afterwards in the
to
was
perfect health." above refer equally to the present inevidence that the cobra was in a perfect state with its poison apparatus complete, nor any that the bite was bonu fide that of the snake, and not self-inflicted by The remarks
stance.
given
There is
no
the charmer as a trick of his trade. Observers should always remember that the virtue of any supposed antidote hinges on the poisoned wound being a fact, and not a deception; and
too great care cannot be given to ascertain it. Usually the rustic" accepts as fact just what the juggler chooses to
"gaping assert.
The substances used on both these occasions are now in my The roots employed by the several parties are not identical. One appears to be a bit of the stem of an Artstolochia, the other is so dried as to resemble the quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such as the "
possession.
Serpentaria of North America, are supposed to act as specifics in the cure of snake-bites, and the A. Indica is the plant to which the ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote when bitten; but it is probable that the use of any particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the resolute action of the operator, and not by the influence of any secondary appliance, the confidence inspired by the supposed talisman enabling its possessor to address himself fearlessly to the taslc, and thus to effect by determination and will, what is popularly believed to be the result of charms and stupefaction." A.
These remarks own
experience,
very much to the purpose, but from my 1 do not think the men themselves believe in
are
the snake-wort as a remedy. It is useful because from its shape and appearance it readily imposes on the crowd looking on ; and the passes made with it, and sale of small pieces as charms, As for the boldness are all adventitious aids to their livelihood. and
dexterity with which the men seize the snakes, no other explanation is required than the common sense one?that the art is learnt easily enough with harmless snakes, both natural
and artificial.
There follows
a
long
note
describing
the capture
particular cobra by a snake-charmer in Ceylon; his method of carrying it from the jungle; his being bitten and cured by the snake-stone; extraction of the fangs aud examination of the poison. But as in this instance also no proof of the fatal quality of the venom is given, and as, in other resoects, the of
a
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
312
story does not differ from the preceding, there is repeat it.
no
necessity
to
P. 200.?" As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the of which I have been describing to Mr. Faraday,
application
who has communicated to me, as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is 'a piece of charred bone which has bjen filled with blood perhaps several times, and then carefully charred again; evidence of this is afforded, as well by the apertures of cells or tubes on its surface, as by the fact that it yields and
[December 1,
1876-
now it will fall almost immediately, and nothing will cause it to adhere any more. " ' These effects I witnessed in the case of a bite of a rattlesnake at Oposura, a town in the province of Sonora in Mexico,
but
from whence I obtained my recipe; and I have given otder particulars regarding it in my travels in t&e interior of Mexico published in 1830'.?R. "W. H, Hardy, Bath, 30th January 1860."
breaks under pressure and exhibits an organic structure within. When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little and if heated still more highly in the air, ammonia ; carbon burns away, and a bulky white ash is left, retaining the
This account of the preparation of the snake-stones in the New World differs somewhat from that which I received through the Roman Catholic Mission at Bassein, and which, no doubt, is the same as that formerly used by the monks of Manilla in their lucrative trade alluded to by Sir J. E. Tennent. There is a very
shape and size of the stone.' This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged to any vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of lime. Mr. Faraday adds that if the piece of matter has ever been employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in its
in the directions for use, viz., in ordering Of course, this is be made in or about the wound. well understood in the local treatment of snake-bites otherwise than with snake-stones; the object of free incisions there being to favour the eflux of poison along with the blood, to isolate
'
present state; but who
subjected
since it
say to what treatment it has been fit for use, or to what treatment the
can
was
natives may submit it when
expecting
to have occasion to
use
it.'? "
The probability is, that the animal-charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system; and that the blood which Mr. Faraday detected in the specimen submitted to him, was that of the Indian on whose person the effect was exhibited on the occasion to which my informant was an eye' witness. The snake-charmers from the coast, who visit Ceylon, profess to prepare the snake-stones for themselves, and they preserve the composition as a secret. Dr. Davy, * on the authority of Sir Alexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is a lucrative trade, carried on by the monks of Manilla, who supply the merchants of India, and his analysis confirms that of Mr. Faraday. Of the three different kinds which he examined?one being of partially burnt bone, and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter,
resembled
a bezoar?all of them (except the first which possessslight absorbent power) were quite inert and incapable of having an effect exclusive of that on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg was shown the snake-stone used by the from Boers at the Cape in 1772, which was imported for them the Indies, especially from Malabar' at so high a price that few
ed
a
'
of the farmers could afford to possess themselves of it; he describes it as convex on one side, black, and so porous that ' when thrown into water it caused bubbles to rise,' and hence, by absorption, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the poison from the wound, f "
Since the
foregoing account was published, I have received a note from Mr. Hardy, relative to the piedra poisona, the snake-stone of Mexico, in which he gives the following account of the method of preparing and applying it:?'Take a piece of hartshorn of any convenient size and shape; cover it well round with grass or hay, and enclosing both in a thin piece of sheet copper well wrapped round them, place the whole parcel in a charcoal-fire till the bone is sufficiently charred. When cold, remove the calcined horn from its envelope, when it will bo ready for immediate use. In this state it will resemble a solid black fibrous substance, of the same shape and size as before it was subjected to this treatment. E/se.?The wound being slightly punctured, apply the bone to the opening, to which it will adhere firmly for the space of 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; two
*
Account of the Interior of
t Thunberg, Vol I., p. 155.
(
eylon.
Ch.
Ill, p. 101,
important divergence
punctures
it from
to
general absorption,
antidotes such as ammonia
and to assist the speedier access of But in the case of the acid.
or
snake-stone it would appear more reasonable to apply it direct to the punctures of the snake rather than to others which may, or may not, be poisoned; and all the more because from the capa-
city of the stone it is manifestly incapable of unlimited power of absorbing blood. It is probable that this practice of puncturing the wounds may have led in Mexico to the directions given, viz., reapplication of the stone after wiping it, this being simply an attempt to restore its absorbing properties which had undergone exhaustion. In any experiments on the subject it would seem profitable to enquire more fully into this point, whether the weight is increased after use, and if so, by what ??simple serum or pure blood; and also whether the poison is absorbed and again discharged into the milk or water with which the snake-stone is directed to be purified ? I have India of either punctures being made, or the never heard in snake-stone applied more than once. In "Wood's Natural History, Reptiles, 1863, p. 144, the subject of antidotes is taken up at great length. The old stock anecdotes are all repeated both as regards the snake-stone and Of course, these stpries seem very wonderful when told over a hospitable dinner-table by a loquacious old Indian, but it is unnecessary to say that they do not satisfy the requirements of science. If Mr. Commissioner Lowther ever had such a plant in his garden, that its constant use necessitated that a pestle and mortar should be always kept
the Aristolochia Indica.
it, so that humanity suffering from snake-poison should at all times be able to have a leaf of it bruised, mixed with water, swallowed, and so be cured, it seems a great pity that he did not
near
any rate, submit its uses to to occur to these excellent philanthropists, that error may be spread abroad if the exact facts are not ascertained ; and that until these are ascertained, any inferences are valueless. There is a long and most touch-
propagate it extensively, or, It never a competent enquiry.
at
seems
account of the recovery by Aristolochia Indica of a young Hindoo woman from the deathly trance of snake-bite ; the gist of the whole being contained in the last two lines :?" The snake unfortunately escaped, but the woman described it as
ing
kala samp, which is the term ordinarily used for the cobra that the entire anecdote hangs on a case of And similarly the anecdotes, given by Sir
a
kapelle" (sic) ; so doubtful identity.
are reprinted as absolutely unassailable ; whereas slight impartial examination will satisfy us that they In Mr. were probably juggler's tricks and nothing else. "Wood's remarks on the manufacture of the snake-stone, however, there i3 a little practical information. It appears he was desirous of testing the truth of Mr. Hardy's recipe for its preparation in Mexico given on the preceding page :?" I procured a piece of stag horn, cut it into proper shape, and exposed it
J. E. Tennent, a
very
to
the
heat of a
fierce charcoal-fire for
an
hour and a hr.lf.
December 1, 1876
]
EXPERIMENTS WITH COBP.A POISON" -BY G. C. ROY, M.D.
removing it from the copper, the hay had been fused into black mass, easily broken, and forming a complete cast of the enclosed horn, which fell out like au almond from its On
a
shell. "
On
comparing
the charred horn with the veritable snaketo be identical, except in the polish. The
stones, I find them
fracture of both is the same ; and when exposed to a white heat in the air, my own specimen burned away, leaving a ?white ash precisely as related of the real specimen, and the ashes of both are exceedingly alike, saving that my own is of a purer white than that specimen calcined by Mr. Faraday,
which has a slight tinge of pink, possibly from the absorbed blood. On throwing it into water it gave out a vast amount
of air from its pores, making the water look for a few seconds if it were newly opened champagne, a peculiarity that agrees with description of the snake-stone used at the Gape, as
Thuuberg's imported at a high price from Malabar. The rather high I could not rightly impart polish of the Singalese snake-stone fiom want of patience. I found, to my own specimen^ probably surface very smooth with a file, however, that by rendering the it to the fire, and afterwards with emery paper, before exposing it with polished it could be burnished afterwards by rubbing the polish is not universal, steel. Even in the original objects than the convex." much rougher side being th? plane and
the snake-stones in la this account of au attempt to make to the Mexican recipe, there is very little according Europe obtained from the Roman difference from the one I have given as in Burinah ; the most important being the absence
Catholic priests
The exof vinegar in either stage before and after cooling. tremely porous nature of the material when prepared is well described?the bubbles of air being set free as though from a pre-
If any one is so far interested in the their manufacture, it would be advisable to try both Eastern and Western ways. It does not seem quite '? clear why the stones" ought to be polished, though the direcis explicit. Mr. Wood further speaks of the snakeso do tion to of Sir J. E. Tennent, viz., that root, and his conclusions are those tfie address of the jugglers is chiefly relied on for their preservaAristolochia possesses no virtue as an antidote. tion, and that the seems to be fair ground lor further Iii conclusion, there of the so-called snakeat least regarding the properties enquiry, for muking it have now that precise directions
viously aerated drink. enquiry as to attempt
stone
been
And
given,
any
one
interested in the subject
can
prepare and
those members of the medical profession test"1 them; 'especially naturalists, frequently engaged in ud
others
periments -e tl
are
ex-
who, as to have an insight into snakes, may be glad for them that the snake-stones It is not claimed
'with
knowledge of physiology in every case; a very slight are of a local remedy at the distal seat will Show the impossibility when the poison has once entered of injurv bein- of any value if it could be shown in selected But, the general circulation. had a certain property as and conditional instances, that they a physical process of absorption, if even by only antidote, an be gained, and this might develop into more one step would under further examination hereafter. adaptation general as is related in his Tbanatophidja, mnde a Fayrer, Joseph Note.?Sir it to be absolutely of the snake-stone, and found most careful trial
usefu'l
Dr. Eteson|s paper is so valuable, from the full useless. Nevertheless, that it can. to pive of this much-vaunted remedy, account he is enabled
313
1,1876.]
TFIE SNAKE-STONE.?BY A. ETESON.
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. THE SNAKE-STONE.
By
Alfred Eteson,
Surgeon-Major, Sappers
and
Miners, Roorkce.
Recent scientific investigation into the qualities and mode of action of snake-poison, and the various antidotes which have have
admittedly closed with disappointment and In rending over the Several published accounts, I have failure. been surprised that inquiry has not been more closely directed to what is commonly called the snake-stone. It is true that an essential of its use requires that it should adhere to the surface of the skin, and hence there may have been extreme difficulty in causing it to adhere to the hairy coats of the animals under experiment; and this may have led to the remedy being put aside as unsuitable, though there would appear to be no great difficulty in having the flank of a dog well shaved before applying the bite first, and then the antidote. Again, there is no doubt, as a remedy, it has, in common with many others, serious drawbacks ; for example, we cannot all of ns carry about a snake-stone, and its virtue is said to depart by exposure to the air; and if it is kept in some private corner, the chances tried,
been
are very great, that no one can find it when it is wanted. On the other hand it appears certain that the snake-charmers, those men who may be said to live with snakes, have, for many generations, maintained their faith in its properties, and to this day invariably have one in their possession, and apply it at once to the wound, shoald they receive a bite while performing. Thev
also chew, and perform certain passes with the root of aristolochia and one or two other serpent-worts, but so far as I have
understand, their partiality for these rests almost similarity of shape and appearance to a snake, and to the effect their appearance has on the gullibility of the ignorant bystanders, while all their trust is reposed on the been able to
entirely
on
their
virtue of the snake-stone alone.
Now I will take it as admitted, that the snake-charmers do seize and handle poisonous snakes, as indeed do many others -who are not snake-charmers. I have myself repeatedly made experiments with the snakes of chance-strollers and seen their
fatal results ; and further there are few of them, but have a sad to tell of their own relatives who have fallen victims (either through rashness, or drinking, or carelessness) to the saake with btory
familiar. It is quite true that many of their snakes can be examined and the fangs found wanting, but it is also are reproduced, as indeed one would be led to certain that which
they
were
they
are the only natural weapon of defence to the most helpless creatures; and it is doubtful if anything, the gland duct, except the actual cautery to the dental sac or would cause If, therefore, the snake-charm-
expect seeing they
permanent innocuity.
ers
do
run
a
continual hazard of
poisonous bites,
the antidote
which they constantly employ should be more closely examined, for it is difficult to realize their continued existence without something of value to guard against accident. I am quite aware of the claim they make to have been gradually inoculated, and to
it were venom proof. But such partial theory seems that they could to me insufficient, and I feel inclined to insist not exist as a class from generation to generation unless they be
as
did possess an antidote. In 1855, I was Assistant
Surgeon in medical charge of the artillery division at Thayet Myo, British Burmah, and formed an acquaintance with the Reverend C. Pacchiotti, Roman Catholic priest at that station. One day, in conversation, he asked me how I treated snake-bites, and I replied that I had seen very few, and those I had seen were remarkable for merely local effects; that no one, I had seen, presented any symptoms of constitutional or general poison, but only intense local pain and inflammation, necessitating active leeching, fomentation, and anodynes. In fact, I remember a yunner of my battery was bitten after d..rk, j uat below
309
the ankle, and mortification threatened theentire limb, the swelling being excessive with deep discolouration as high as the groin. This lasted nearly two days and I applied over 150 leeches before the
circulation recovered, yet never for a moment was the man insensible or even incoherent, indeed he did most of the leeching and fomenting for himself. Father Pacchiotti begged me always to use the snake-stone, with which his Mission was supplied. He added that they (the priests) had all used it for manj years with unvarying success, and that a good stone never failed. I had never seen or heard of them, and I covered my ignorance, as is commonly the case, with a cloak of medical ethics, viz., that I ought not to use anything with the composition of which I was not acquainted. Ho could not tell me how they were made, only that the priest at Bassein made for the whole Misbut he assured me their manufacture must be very simple it was handed from one to another from time to time without any special fitness; ultimately I accepted a stone from him and
sion, as
it by me in the event of an opportunity arising for its use. The stone, so called, was a flat piece of calcined horn, threequarters of an incli square, and one and a half line thick and so resembled a quickflint, except that all the edges were squared, and it was very smooth, with an even grain of close cancellations
kept
clearly visible.
I
kept
it
wrapped
in flannel in the dark of my
desk-drawer. A short time afterwards I had occasion to use it. A grasscutter of my battery came walking to my house, holding his wrist with one hand and writhing in extreme pain. I found the double, just behind the knuckle of the middle
punctures
of the hand. A congested swelling was the man sit down in my room just as he made I beginning; was, and I pressed down the stone over the punctures?it adhered at once. I removed my fingers, then sloped his hand, and turned it round, lastly, I drew on the stone with moderate force
finger
on
the back
In about quarter sucker would do. himself first mentioned that the stone was loosed ; I touched it with one finger, and it became displaced. I put it, as directed, in some fresh-milk, which, I think, I remember to have seen become curdled and in parts pale yellow, and then replaced the stone once more in dry flannel; meanwhile the patient returned to the lines quite well. The pain had entirely gone, there was still some swelling, but nothing angry or indicating irritation in either the punctures or surrounding parts. So far as I am concerned, this until it lifted the skin
of
an
hour the
as a
patient
only instance in which the use of the snake-stone has under my personal observation. It is not worth much, for the identity of the snake and the precise conditions of the bite were not established, but at all events the stoue did what it was professed it would do, and there was no suspicion of the is the
come
man
having
been otherwise than
genuinely
bitten.
On my return to Bengal in 1857, I brought away the stone and soon after I had an opportunity of showing it to some snakecharmers.
I could see that they were greatly surprised at its size and appearance of manufacture. Their own, I need scarcely say, are nearly all small, rounded, and pebble-shaped, in order to correspond with their statements to the wondering uublic that found in the brain of
a toad, or fall from the sky in Himalayan valley; but I could not mistake that they recognized it as genuine, though they spoke of it among themselves in a broken patois which I did not understand. They were very anxious I should give it to them, and they
they
some
are
unknown
asked me how 1 had made it. I kept this stone until 1S61 without ever having another chance of trying it. It used to be wrapped in flannel and
kept stoppered bottle of dark filass. I then lost it by lending it to an Assistant-engineer, D. P. W., from whom it was either stolen or mislaid by servants. He and I were together at Mahona dak bungabw on the Gwalior and Seepree road where his work lay, and as he kept a tame mongoose (Herpestes griscusj we used to have the usual fights between it and in a
the INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
310
cobras. I may mention here the end of that mongoose, which differs somewhat from the results of the experiments mnde on the animal by the Snake Commission. One day we had a very large and vicious cobra brought, fresh captured, and iu its natural
[December 1,
9? Lorsqti 'on s'en est servi, on decharge le venin qu'a aspire la pierre en In laissant reposer clans du lait. This is, Sir, what I know about the remedy ; may God help you in
We let loose the pet mongoose which attacked the snake in the usual manner by circling round until he saw the opportunity for a rush, and seizing the snake by the head. This he
trying
that process for the
help
condition.
had done very successfully, and was busy biting and wringing the cobra, when the man who brought it interceded very earnestly for the life of the snake which was at that moment entirely the
at
mercy ; accordingly we released it and took the But the snake lying, as it were, almost dead, one suggested it would be best to let the mongoose finish So again he was set at the snake, but to our surprise the
some
him. latter reared himself
again for the fight, and though his head was bruised and bleeding, he fronted the foe bravely. A second time the mongoose rushed in, but on this occasion the cobra seized it across the loins, held it off the ground, and shook it like a rat. sorely
The mougoose apparently would not seize the snake except by the and this it could not reach, lithe as it was. We quickly killed the snake and rescued the pet, but it was done for. ]t was paralyzed below the loins, and though we took every care of
head,
day after a convulsion of a few moments. quite sensible and knew its master as before. There was not one sign of poisoning As I had lost my stone, I set about trying to get another. Father Pacchiotti had gone to Europe, but remembering that he had said the stones were all made by the priest at Bassein, it, it died the
Up
I drew He
next
the last it
to
was
a venture, and wrote to ask him for one. follows : "Bassein, 27th March 1862.
bow at
a
replied
?
as
" Sir.?I received to-day your letter, dated Lueknow, 8th March 1862. F. C. Pacchiotti, you knew in Burmah, left two He will not come again. Ho years ago the Mission for home. was sick and thought the climate of Europe will restore him. I am sorry to say I am not able to send you presently any
of those stones you wish; though I know the process to make them. But I hope I will have the pleasure of sending never tried.
I
few of them in
a
of them,
short
I asked my fellow medicine, to make
delay ; as, wanting myself some priest of Myomnya, who is an able some
few for
our own
man
for
use.
in making knowt\ to you the process; you can prepare that useful remedy You will excuse my writing in French ; I, perhaps, may miss in some English expression that would misdirect you. It (is) I
happy
am
try yourself
to
easier for you to have a good understanding by the French. 'Mode de preparation de la pierre contre la morsure des
serpents:
?
1" Cooper (scier) en forme de pierre a fusil lapartie dure d'une belle corne de cerf. 2? Polir ces petites pierres en les frottant sur une pierre a
aiguiser
en
outre.
Les faire tremper
3?
en
suite huit heures dans du bon vinai-
gre. Prendre un petit pot de terre (chatty), les placer dedans milieu de 1'ecorce du riz (ce qui enveloppe le grain de " paddy") sans qu'elles se touchent mutuellement. Remplir le pot de oette ecorce; fermer liermetiquement le pot avec de la ti i re
4?
au
qui
colle le couvert. Mettre le tout
au milieu d'un petit feu, fait en bidlent de cette meme ecorce de riz. LaisSez cuire pendant 12 heures. 6? Apves la cuisson faire tremper de nouveau les pierres des lors noires et calcinees dans du boa vinaigre pendant sept
5?
heures.
7?
Retirer les pierres. Celles la settlement sont bonnes qui a la peau mouillee', e.g. aux levres ; elles font l'effe1
s'attachent d'une
ventouse.
Pour les conserver, les mettre de I'air. 8?
dans du coton
a
l'abri
of the poor sick. Tours truly, Paul
Dumollard, Mm. Apost
This letter
was
followed
by another, which I had better give some interesting details regarding the
as it contains manufacture and use of the stoues:?
entire,
mongoose's
mongoose away.
LS76.
"
Bassein, 10 th June 1862.
Sir,?I received this morning your kind letter, and I have the pleasure to join to my answer a stone which I received a few days ago from my friend of Myomnyo, Out of sixty stones he prepared, six only had been found useful; "Mi
dear
of those six he gave me three; one for you, one for another person that called on me for one; and the last for me, which [ had occasion to employ the next day. One of my people having been bitten, I employed the stone successfully. For more security, I joined to the stone three or four drops of alkali volatil in a glass of water, and as much as a pea of inadure composition. The stone proved to be good. I asked the reason of so many stones lost in the preparation. I was answered that the horn employed was too tender; the deer was young, and the horn new. I am not able to say whether a special quality of deer is required. I think all kinds of horns are good, provided they would be hard and sound. The stone must be kept carefully closed without communication with the air. Yours sincerely, Paul Dumollard, Miss. Apost." I never had any opportunity of trying the new stone sent me, and I must have lost it for some years. The only ones I now have I bought from travelling snake-charmers, and even those I have never used. In truth, one is puzzled to reconcile the astonishing statistics of deaths from snake-bite given in the Mortuary Registers with one's own personal experience. I have been in Iioorkee nearly nine years, and have had the civil medical duties in addition to my regimental charge ; and during the whole time (in a lucky hour be it spoken) I can recall only four cases, of which two were fatal before they were seen by me, in the third it was a very doubtful point if the man wa, really bitten, and one I only heard of. And looking backs though twenty years in India, I can only speak of like experience, and one feels rather incredulous about so many thousands dying in a single district every year, when a population of at least
10,000 remains under close observation for many years, with no such cause of mortality being proved. However, Father Dumollard's directions are exceedingly simple, and may be easily carried ouc by any one who reads this paper. I presume the horn ought not to be very old. Such, for example, as may have been handed down from subaltern to subaltern, as a house decoration since 1801. My object in bringing this before the profession is to have a more extended trial. It is not by one medical man keeping such an antidote that the facts are safely recorded.
be easily made, and in abundance, by any one opportunity of treating snake-bites, and I presume few can be so fortunate (or unfortunate, whichever it may be called) in that respect as I have been. And again, it is so easily carried and is so easily distributed, that this is an advantage in regard of making the remedy available. But it is clear from the repeated precautions given, that dryness and exclusion from the air are essential to maintain the absorbent power. I hope that if others are induced to manufacture and experiment with it, that The stone who has an
can
will be taken to record the cases. The stones as the priest describes, the cases should be undoubted, and the observations just. It must always be borne in mind that this is not written in praise of any recent theoretical
extreme
care
should be
cure, but
good
simply explains
the way of
making the stones,
after
December 1,
THE SNAKE-STOHE.-BY A. ETESON.
1S7G-]
in common and secret use as a cure for many and that the object is to ascertain if the stones have any virtue whatever, by placing them under trial by scientific observers under various conditions.
liaving been generations,
I conclude by transcribing in a condensed form the remarks of two eminent writers on the snake-stone which are clearly very near the truth as to its manufacture and composition. It is " that the manufacture was a very singular that the tradition secret with the monks of Manilla" should be noted by Sir E.
Tennent; for no doubt the way to make the stones would be first learnt from the natives, as a secret, by the Roman Catholic missionaries, and then the process would be handed down from the other. It is
one
to
the
changes
of
quite idle discussing the manner of cure, deompositioa which occur under incineration, or
the actual absorbent power of the snake-stone. In the event of any one observing a case successfully, it is suggested that the milk by which (para. 9) the snake-stone is purified, should be subsequently tested by condensation for the presence of poison,
inoculating a small bird, such as a pigeon. Ceylon, by Sir J. E. Tennent, 5th Edition, 1860, Vol. I.,
and then p. 197.
Tamboo-Kaloo. "The
of the
pamboo-kaloo, or snake-stone, ns a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singalese by the itinerant snake-charmers use
who resort to the island from the Coasts of than
instance,
of its successful
Coromandel;
and
application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses to what they described. On one occasion a friend of mine was riding, with some other civil officers of the Government, along a jungie-path in the vicinity of Siritenne, when they saw one of two Tamils, who were approaching them, suddenly dart into the forest, and return holding in both hands a cobra di capello which he had seized by the head and tail. He called to his compunion for assistance to place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he handled it so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger, and more
one
retained its hold for a few seconds, as if unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waist-cloth, and took from it two snake-stones, each of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly
polished, though of an extremely light substance. These he applied one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, the blood that oozed to which they attached themselves closely, from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off of their own accord ; the suffering of the man appeared to have subsided; he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way without While this had been going on, another Indian of the concern. a party who had come up took from his bag small piece of white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, which the latter immediately inclined close to the ground ; he then lifted the snake without hesitation, and it coiled into a circle at the bottom of his basket. The root by which he professed to be enabled to perform this with safety, he called the naya-thalee kalinga (the
operation
root
of the
ability
to
snake-plant,)
approach
any
protected by which he professed his
reptile
with
impunity."
Sir J. E. Tennent does not mention whether his friend who witnessed the above recorded use of the snake-stone was a European. But if the party consisted, as is probable, of European Civilians, then the whole narrative reads exactly like the tricks of their trade practised
by snake-charmers all over India. It was clearly gang who met the Civilians ; the meeting was not accidental but pre-arranged; the cobra was not wild, b it had often Wnt his head to the earth before his master with or witha
professional
oat " the white root," and the bite was simply an additional element in the extraction of rupees. It would have been iuo:e satisfactory if the snake had been isolated for future examination ; if the adherence of the stone had been ascertained to be real ; and especially whether any changes in its condition before and after the
application liad been observed. But in this, as in other matters, the wonderful or the miraculous chain the senses, and draw to them the whole attention; while the homely commonplace mechanism of the trick passes unnoticed. When a crowd assembles round a conjurer, all eyes are instinctively turned to see a bird let loose, or three balls thrown up in the air, or a gun fired; they suppose the trick is in these, and thi'n all go away declaring they never removed their eyes from the cloth which concealed the changed mango tree, or the little child accomplice. " In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, then District
Judge of Knndy, informed me that he saw a snake-charmer in the jungle, close by the town, search for a cobra di capello, and, after disturbing it in its retreat, the man tried to secure but in the attempt he was bitten in the thigh till blood
it,
He instantly applied the pamlootrickled from the wound. kaloo, which adhered closcly for about ten minutes, during which time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and forwards above the stone till the latter dropped
ground. He assured Mr. Lavalliere that all danger then past. That gentleman obtained from him the snakestone he had relied on, and saw him repeatedly afterwards in the
to
was
perfect health." above refer equally to the present inevidence that the cobra was in a perfect state with its poison apparatus complete, nor any that the bite was bonu fide that of the snake, and not self-inflicted by The remarks
stance.
given
There is
no
the charmer as a trick of his trade. Observers should always remember that the virtue of any supposed antidote hinges on the poisoned wound being a fact, and not a deception; and
too great care cannot be given to ascertain it. Usually the rustic" accepts as fact just what the juggler chooses to
"gaping assert.
The substances used on both these occasions are now in my The roots employed by the several parties are not identical. One appears to be a bit of the stem of an Artstolochia, the other is so dried as to resemble the quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such as the "
possession.
Serpentaria of North America, are supposed to act as specifics in the cure of snake-bites, and the A. Indica is the plant to which the ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote when bitten; but it is probable that the use of any particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the resolute action of the operator, and not by the influence of any secondary appliance, the confidence inspired by the supposed talisman enabling its possessor to address himself fearlessly to the taslc, and thus to effect by determination and will, what is popularly believed to be the result of charms and stupefaction." A.
These remarks own
experience,
very much to the purpose, but from my 1 do not think the men themselves believe in
are
the snake-wort as a remedy. It is useful because from its shape and appearance it readily imposes on the crowd looking on ; and the passes made with it, and sale of small pieces as charms, As for the boldness are all adventitious aids to their livelihood. and
dexterity with which the men seize the snakes, no other explanation is required than the common sense one?that the art is learnt easily enough with harmless snakes, both natural
and artificial.
There follows
a
long
note
describing
the capture
particular cobra by a snake-charmer in Ceylon; his method of carrying it from the jungle; his being bitten and cured by the snake-stone; extraction of the fangs aud examination of the poison. But as in this instance also no proof of the fatal quality of the venom is given, and as, in other resoects, the of
a
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
312
story does not differ from the preceding, there is repeat it.
no
necessity
to
P. 200.?" As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the of which I have been describing to Mr. Faraday,
application
who has communicated to me, as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is 'a piece of charred bone which has bjen filled with blood perhaps several times, and then carefully charred again; evidence of this is afforded, as well by the apertures of cells or tubes on its surface, as by the fact that it yields and
[December 1,
1876-
now it will fall almost immediately, and nothing will cause it to adhere any more. " ' These effects I witnessed in the case of a bite of a rattlesnake at Oposura, a town in the province of Sonora in Mexico,
but
from whence I obtained my recipe; and I have given otder particulars regarding it in my travels in t&e interior of Mexico published in 1830'.?R. "W. H, Hardy, Bath, 30th January 1860."
breaks under pressure and exhibits an organic structure within. When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little and if heated still more highly in the air, ammonia ; carbon burns away, and a bulky white ash is left, retaining the
This account of the preparation of the snake-stones in the New World differs somewhat from that which I received through the Roman Catholic Mission at Bassein, and which, no doubt, is the same as that formerly used by the monks of Manilla in their lucrative trade alluded to by Sir J. E. Tennent. There is a very
shape and size of the stone.' This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged to any vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of lime. Mr. Faraday adds that if the piece of matter has ever been employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in its
in the directions for use, viz., in ordering Of course, this is be made in or about the wound. well understood in the local treatment of snake-bites otherwise than with snake-stones; the object of free incisions there being to favour the eflux of poison along with the blood, to isolate
'
present state; but who
subjected
since it
say to what treatment it has been fit for use, or to what treatment the
can
was
natives may submit it when
expecting
to have occasion to
use
it.'? "
The probability is, that the animal-charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system; and that the blood which Mr. Faraday detected in the specimen submitted to him, was that of the Indian on whose person the effect was exhibited on the occasion to which my informant was an eye' witness. The snake-charmers from the coast, who visit Ceylon, profess to prepare the snake-stones for themselves, and they preserve the composition as a secret. Dr. Davy, * on the authority of Sir Alexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is a lucrative trade, carried on by the monks of Manilla, who supply the merchants of India, and his analysis confirms that of Mr. Faraday. Of the three different kinds which he examined?one being of partially burnt bone, and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter,
resembled
a bezoar?all of them (except the first which possessslight absorbent power) were quite inert and incapable of having an effect exclusive of that on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg was shown the snake-stone used by the from Boers at the Cape in 1772, which was imported for them the Indies, especially from Malabar' at so high a price that few
ed
a
'
of the farmers could afford to possess themselves of it; he describes it as convex on one side, black, and so porous that ' when thrown into water it caused bubbles to rise,' and hence, by absorption, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the poison from the wound, f "
Since the
foregoing account was published, I have received a note from Mr. Hardy, relative to the piedra poisona, the snake-stone of Mexico, in which he gives the following account of the method of preparing and applying it:?'Take a piece of hartshorn of any convenient size and shape; cover it well round with grass or hay, and enclosing both in a thin piece of sheet copper well wrapped round them, place the whole parcel in a charcoal-fire till the bone is sufficiently charred. When cold, remove the calcined horn from its envelope, when it will bo ready for immediate use. In this state it will resemble a solid black fibrous substance, of the same shape and size as before it was subjected to this treatment. E/se.?The wound being slightly punctured, apply the bone to the opening, to which it will adhere firmly for the space of 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; two
*
Account of the Interior of
t Thunberg, Vol I., p. 155.
(
eylon.
Ch.
Ill, p. 101,
important divergence
punctures
it from
to
general absorption,
antidotes such as ammonia
and to assist the speedier access of But in the case of the acid.
or
snake-stone it would appear more reasonable to apply it direct to the punctures of the snake rather than to others which may, or may not, be poisoned; and all the more because from the capa-
city of the stone it is manifestly incapable of unlimited power of absorbing blood. It is probable that this practice of puncturing the wounds may have led in Mexico to the directions given, viz., reapplication of the stone after wiping it, this being simply an attempt to restore its absorbing properties which had undergone exhaustion. In any experiments on the subject it would seem profitable to enquire more fully into this point, whether the weight is increased after use, and if so, by what ??simple serum or pure blood; and also whether the poison is absorbed and again discharged into the milk or water with which the snake-stone is directed to be purified ? I have India of either punctures being made, or the never heard in snake-stone applied more than once. In "Wood's Natural History, Reptiles, 1863, p. 144, the subject of antidotes is taken up at great length. The old stock anecdotes are all repeated both as regards the snake-stone and Of course, these stpries seem very wonderful when told over a hospitable dinner-table by a loquacious old Indian, but it is unnecessary to say that they do not satisfy the requirements of science. If Mr. Commissioner Lowther ever had such a plant in his garden, that its constant use necessitated that a pestle and mortar should be always kept
the Aristolochia Indica.
it, so that humanity suffering from snake-poison should at all times be able to have a leaf of it bruised, mixed with water, swallowed, and so be cured, it seems a great pity that he did not
near
any rate, submit its uses to to occur to these excellent philanthropists, that error may be spread abroad if the exact facts are not ascertained ; and that until these are ascertained, any inferences are valueless. There is a long and most touch-
propagate it extensively, or, It never a competent enquiry.
at
seems
account of the recovery by Aristolochia Indica of a young Hindoo woman from the deathly trance of snake-bite ; the gist of the whole being contained in the last two lines :?" The snake unfortunately escaped, but the woman described it as
ing
kala samp, which is the term ordinarily used for the cobra that the entire anecdote hangs on a case of And similarly the anecdotes, given by Sir
a
kapelle" (sic) ; so doubtful identity.
are reprinted as absolutely unassailable ; whereas slight impartial examination will satisfy us that they In Mr. were probably juggler's tricks and nothing else. "Wood's remarks on the manufacture of the snake-stone, however, there i3 a little practical information. It appears he was desirous of testing the truth of Mr. Hardy's recipe for its preparation in Mexico given on the preceding page :?" I procured a piece of stag horn, cut it into proper shape, and exposed it
J. E. Tennent, a
very
to
the
heat of a
fierce charcoal-fire for
an
hour and a hr.lf.
December 1, 1876
]
EXPERIMENTS WITH COBP.A POISON" -BY G. C. ROY, M.D.
removing it from the copper, the hay had been fused into black mass, easily broken, and forming a complete cast of the enclosed horn, which fell out like au almond from its On
a
shell. "
On
comparing
the charred horn with the veritable snaketo be identical, except in the polish. The
stones, I find them
fracture of both is the same ; and when exposed to a white heat in the air, my own specimen burned away, leaving a ?white ash precisely as related of the real specimen, and the ashes of both are exceedingly alike, saving that my own is of a purer white than that specimen calcined by Mr. Faraday,
which has a slight tinge of pink, possibly from the absorbed blood. On throwing it into water it gave out a vast amount
of air from its pores, making the water look for a few seconds if it were newly opened champagne, a peculiarity that agrees with description of the snake-stone used at the Gape, as
Thuuberg's imported at a high price from Malabar. The rather high I could not rightly impart polish of the Singalese snake-stone fiom want of patience. I found, to my own specimen^ probably surface very smooth with a file, however, that by rendering the it to the fire, and afterwards with emery paper, before exposing it with polished it could be burnished afterwards by rubbing the polish is not universal, steel. Even in the original objects than the convex." much rougher side being th? plane and
the snake-stones in la this account of au attempt to make to the Mexican recipe, there is very little according Europe obtained from the Roman difference from the one I have given as in Burinah ; the most important being the absence
Catholic priests
The exof vinegar in either stage before and after cooling. tremely porous nature of the material when prepared is well described?the bubbles of air being set free as though from a pre-
If any one is so far interested in the their manufacture, it would be advisable to try both Eastern and Western ways. It does not seem quite '? clear why the stones" ought to be polished, though the direcis explicit. Mr. Wood further speaks of the snakeso do tion to of Sir J. E. Tennent, viz., that root, and his conclusions are those tfie address of the jugglers is chiefly relied on for their preservaAristolochia possesses no virtue as an antidote. tion, and that the seems to be fair ground lor further Iii conclusion, there of the so-called snakeat least regarding the properties enquiry, for muking it have now that precise directions
viously aerated drink. enquiry as to attempt
stone
been
And
given,
any
one
interested in the subject
can
prepare and
those members of the medical profession test"1 them; 'especially naturalists, frequently engaged in ud
others
periments -e tl
are
ex-
who, as to have an insight into snakes, may be glad for them that the snake-stones It is not claimed
'with
knowledge of physiology in every case; a very slight are of a local remedy at the distal seat will Show the impossibility when the poison has once entered of injurv bein- of any value if it could be shown in selected But, the general circulation. had a certain property as and conditional instances, that they a physical process of absorption, if even by only antidote, an be gained, and this might develop into more one step would under further examination hereafter. adaptation general as is related in his Tbanatophidja, mnde a Fayrer, Joseph Note.?Sir it to be absolutely of the snake-stone, and found most careful trial
usefu'l
Dr. Eteson|s paper is so valuable, from the full useless. Nevertheless, that it can. to pive of this much-vaunted remedy, account he is enabled
313
