The Portland daily press., 1896-03-07
SNAKE-STCN MES.
Some apparently Wen Authenticated In
stances of Their Efficacy.

JHGm or no. Iuere are plenty TO BE
found, of which good number have the
testimony of respectable Europeans. This
is explained generally, says the London
STANDARD, by assuming that the poison
had not really entered, or that the snake
was not yenomous, or some improbabillty
Of the sort for which there is 20 shadow
oe evidence as a rule. Convinced that
cure is impossible, savants commonly
put forward any objection that occurs to
them and impatfcnly dismiss the subject.
They may be right; we are not In the
ieaEt prepared to demonstrate their error.
But the statements of eye-wirnesses,
whose word could not be questioned in
smother matter, IS worthy of more Con-
alteration. 10 take these alone. Major
Forhes, in Ceylon, saw native practi-
sioner cure q man who had been SO IN
missakably bitten that before the opera
lion began he was insensible. Placing a
large thin pan of live charcoal on the
Viotim's head was one part of the treat
ment. and the administration OF ''numer-
vus vegetable compounds" another. The
author regrets that he had o means of
sgaiyzsng them. Tscudi also saw an in
stance among the Indians of Bolivia and
he had the scientific knowledge necessary
FOR Identifying the root employed. 1t
was Polyanthes tuberosa. out in slips and
STEPPED In the juice of Mikania huaco,
O creeper. But of all processes the "snake-
stone" is most fascinating. a good many
natives in India have them. Some few
months ago paragraph went through
the Indian press telling how Maharajah
6cindhia had asked a wealthy Parsi to
name price for one in his possession.
Bcindehfa is not credulous man, by all
ACCOUNTS, nor one to offer a blank check
unless quite satisfied that the article had
priceless value. Some one in whom he
took interest had been bitten and saved
by an application of the Patsi's tails
man.
The statement made by Mr.. Freohnert,
bandmaster of the Second Life Guards,
to Frank Buekland is we'll worth atten-
ton. He said that when travelling over
the plains of India, not far from Ban
galore, he saw an agitation among some
had been bitten. A oomrade produced
two little balls, one Of which he applied
TO the wound, and, with something that
appeared to be small ssick, made passes
down the arm-that IL, against the
course which the venom would naturally
take. In about five minutes an effect
became visible, and shortly the victim
was well. Mr.. Froehnert bought the OBJ
5ects. "Some time afterward, at quite
different place, man happened to be
bitten py bra; Mr.. Froehnert yolun-
teered the use of his little balls and sticks
They were applied, and the man soon got
batfer.s To say the least, this is note
worthy evidence. Drank Buokland was
not man to neglect 1t. The stick was
found to be common gamboge, which is
a strong medicine, but it has no visible
relations with snake-bite. He took it to
tho College of Surgeons with the balls,
which We're the sizes Of q large pea to
one Of them dry blood still adhered. 1t
must be supposed that the examination
was as thorough as circumstances permit
Bed. "buu we could make nothing of them
beyond chat they were COMPOSED of some
vegetable material, for vegetable hair
was seen in abundance.
Another case, no less impressive, is
given by MIR. Selous in his Travels and
Adventures in Southeast Africa In
1877 he made acquaintance with a vener-
able Boer named Friedrich de LANCE at
MARCO. De Lange possessed a snake
saoCA. which he kept in cotton wool in
side small bog. and this again was
looked in q desk-proof of the value he
set qpon it. The old man alleged that
several persons in the district had been
saved thereby and horses, too, naming
among others the daughter of certain
Antony FortInan. Two years afterwards
MR. Seious encountered his man, with his
family, In Matabeleland, but he did not
recall the association, until one day Fort
man said to his daughter, "Show Mr..
Sslous where the snake bit you" The
Gari tarned her sleeve, displaying a very
ugly soar. When she was stung in the
reighborhoodF of Marcio, her father sent a
man on horse back full speed for De
Lange's snakes-tone. The child had lost
consciousness and her arm was nearly
black when it arrived, but two applica-
tons cured her. Mr.. Selous examined
the object several times So far as he
remembers it is light and porous, round
blaakish, with grayish mottlings, the up
per side polished, the under rough This
LATTER Is put to the wound, and it sucks
I'd the poison. When full it must be put
In glass Of ammonia, and the venom
rises TO the surface like thin white
thread. The operation must be repeated
II necessary. De Lang inherited his
treasure. which had been in the family
fer an indefinite number of generations;
10 is at least probable that one of his FORE
fs5hers got it from u Dutch Irdiaman at
Capatown. Mr.. Cruickshank, who was
travelling with Mr.. Selous, offered go
pounds for the stone, q notable sum in
cSsh for wandering Boer. But De
Longe refused to deal at any price.
Cure for Headache.