natives of India hold the part wounded as near to a fire as pof- fible, for a confiderable time, which, they fay, produces a perfect cure. I fhall here add a few obfervations which occurred to me while ferving in the fouthern army in the Eaft Indies, refpeit- ing fome of our foldiers who were bitten by fnakes in that campaign. The fouthern countries of Indofton abound with the fmall fnake, called the Covra Manilla, which is well known to be very poifonous. The Bramins tell us, that they can admini- iter complete relief in the mod defperate cafes ; but their mode of practice has hitherto been kept a fecret from Europeans. Col- lonel Fullarton, however, procured a fmall box of their pills from the Reverend Mr. Swartz, a miffionary at Tanjore; and at the liege of Carrore we had an apportunity of proving the effefts of them. One of our feapoys was bitten, and fo ill that we defpaired of his life. The Colonel gave him one of the pills, which feemed to a ft as a very ftrong opiate for fome time, and threw him into a delirium ; in two days, however, the man was perfeftly recovered. We had alfo a fecond proof of their utility, though the man did not appear to be fo ill as on the former occafion. I was a witnefs to a third cafe, where we could not procure thefe pills. A fervant of Lieutenant Smith, in the fame regiment with my- felf, was bitten. The lieutenant gave him nothing but brandy and hot Madeira wine, and kept him in a itate of intoxication for twenty-four hours; the next day the pain was gone, but the man continued indifpofed for fome time. A foldier in the feventy-eighth regiment, after a wound from a ferpent, was fo ill that his whole body was difcoloured, and he was confidered as incurable by all the furgeons in the army. In this cafe we could not have recourfe to the Bramin’s pills; and it was thought that nothing but the ftrength of his confti- tution could have faved him. Another circumftance, refpefting the bite of fnakes, which happened near Bengal, will not, I flatter myfelf, be deemed unworthy of attention: when a brigade was cantoned, the houfes had not been inhabited for fome time before. Soon after they went in, there were fome men found dead in the morning; for which faft they were totally unable to account. The difafter, however, was foon difcovered to proceed from the bite of fnakes. On fearching, they found vaft numbers of thefe animals in the holes of the mud-walls; the greateft part of which they killed. They were then advifed to lay a quantity of onions and garlick about their rooms, in the infide; and after that, no further traces of them were perceived. It is much to be wifhed that any certain remedy for the bite of thofe poifonous animals could be difcovered, and fuch as might be carried in the traveller’s pocket, when proceeding on a long journey. Botanifts, or naturalifts, are more expofed than any other clafs of men, as they are conftantly wandering in the fields among ihrubs and grafs, where they cannot difco
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