The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-07-28
EAST INDIAN FOLK MEDICINE,
Remedies in Which the Natives Have
 Implicit Faith.

AlhpltStt Y elILHs
 Perhaps in no other country In the world is the "evil eye" an object of such great dread as in India, You will cause mortal offense to a Hindo lady should you remark of her child, What a nice baby you have!" or How baby has grown since I saw him last!'' She makes it a rule to speak deprecatingly of her child and represents 1t as the victim of non-exlste1t ailments so that your evil eye shall not affect It. Should she become aware that, in spite of her precautions, you have defiled 1t with your admiration, she will lose no time in counteracting the apprehended effects of the 'drishtidosham." One of the simplest methods adopted for this purpose is to take small quantity of chillies and salt in the closed palm and throw it into the fire, after waving it thrice round the head of the child to the accompaniment of incantations. If no pungent odor is apparent 1t is an indication that the dosham has been averted.
 The harati ceremony, so frequently observed In marriages and other fes- tive occasions, is also intended to counteract the dire influence of the evil eye. A plate containing saffron water is held by two ladies in front of the married couple about score of times during the progress of Hindu marriage so that the admiration of the spectators shall not injuriously affect the bride or the bridegroom. The cu- rious ceremonies of which her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales formed the central figure within few hours after her landing on Indian shores were in one way intended to be a sort of insurance against the possible effects of the evil eye.
 If child in arms be taken into the open air and bird fly directly over It's head, the infant will be rapidly re- duoed to mere skeleton. The only remedy is to give it for some days a. few drops of an oil extracted from the tit-turupitta, a kind of sparrow.
 Great virtues are ascribed to the claws and horns of certain animals Tigers claws are in great demand with the common people One or two claws may be worn near the loins, but should one possess a larger number the fortunate owner makes a garland of them and wears them around his neck. Deer's horn, ground into a fine paste, is an excellent balm for pains and swellings. A more curious use is found for the same substance; it is sometimes made into a powder which is supposed to aid the growth of stunt ed women, The joints taken from the long and slender tail of the black SCOT pion are supposed to keep illness at arms distance when children wear them on their waist thread.
 As soon as a person has been bitten by cobra a snake charrner is sent for who lures the same or another cobra whose fangs have not been drawn to the vicinity of the victim and causes it to bite him at as nearly as possible the same spot as before. This last condi- ton is certainly difficult one to achieve, but should 1t be fulfilled the sufferer will as surely recover as the snake win die.
 It is believed that if a person should come upon two cobras together they will give the unfortunate intruder no quarter. To avoid being pursued by them he takes to his heels, after throwing behind some garment on which the reptiles expend their wrath. When they have completed their work of destruction the pieces to which the ' cloth has been reduced are gathered together and preserved as penacea for i future ills.
 Water snakes are generally harm- less, but here and there one comes across a venomous species. A fisher. 1 man when in doubt as to whether the snake that has bitten him is 8 poison. ous one or not dips hhis hand into th1 mud and gorges his stomach with sev.
 eral handfulls of the semi-solid.
 A red or swollen eye is cured .bv hay.
 ing 1t touched with the bolt or chair
 attached to a door. A remedy whicf l have seen applied with considerabl,
 effect in more than one epileptic fiji i,
 to place a bunch of keys in the pain, ot
 the sufferer. l have heard it said tha
 the fit passed away as readily if th,
 keys are placed on the head. A rathe
 quaint remedy in the case of a strained
 neck is to use an iron measure for
 pillow.