Cobra: the magic stone

By Richard Boyle

Cobra is the common name for the mem-bers of the family of venomous snakes called Elapidae. When disturbed or provoked, these snakes have the well-known ability to create an intimidating hood by extending the ribs behind their heads.

What is not generally known, however, is that most cobras are natives of Africa. Such species include the asp (of Cleopatra infamy) and the spitting, or black-necked cobra, which can spray its venom from a distance of 2.5 metres.

Southern Africa is home to another type of spitting cobra, the ringhals, which is the smallest of the Elapidae, reaching only about 1. 2 metres in length.

On the other hand the king cobra, or hamadryad, which is found in Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, and southern China, is the world's longest venomous snake. Olive or brown coloured, it averages 3.7 metres in length, but is known to grow to an imposing 5.5 metres. The female king cobra is unique in that it makes a nest for its eggs, scraping up leaves and other debris in which to deposit them. Furthermore, the expectant mother remains in the nest until the young hatch.

The other member of the family Elapidae that inhabits Asia - including Sri Lanka - is known variously as the common, Asian, Indian or spectacled cobra (due, of course, to the spectacles-shaped marking on its skin).

Unlike its cousin, the king cobra, it is not a big snake, seldom reaching a length of more than 1.8 metres. Proportionately, though, the distended hood of the Asian cobra is much larger than that of the king cobra.

Its colour varies from either a very dark brown or olive to light red-brown. The hood is silvery white with red and yellow tinting, while the spectacles marking is usually black and white.

The cobra is known in Sinhala as Naya, Naia, or Nageya, and in Tamil as Nalla Pambu. It is the most lethal of Sri Lanka's venomous snakes.

The amount of venom injected varies according to the intensity of the grip secured by the snake and the state of its venom supply - for killing its prey leads to temporary depletion.

Fortunately, therefore, it prefers to conserve its venom for use in hunting rather than deterring clumsy-footed humans. Whether a blood vessel has been penetrated, and the age, size, health and degree of panic of the victim are factors that influence the severity of the effect of the venom. Shock can be the real killer.

Cobra venom, which is neurotoxic, affects the central nervous system, attacks the lining of the walls of the blood vessels and the covers of the red blood corpuscles, destroys the white corpuscles, prevents clotting of the blood and constricts the blood vessels. Yet, believe it or not, it is perfectly harmless if swallowed.

The bite of a cobra is generally identifiable by the fact that the wound is more often than not high up on the victim's leg, the result of the snake raising its head and body before striking.

"The cobra erects about a third of its length when fully aroused and, before striking, draws back its head rapidly, opens its mouth, then darts its erected body forwards and downward," explains P.E.P. Deraniyagala in A Coloured Atlas of the Vertebrates of Ceylon, Volume Three: Serpentoid Reptilia (Colombo: 1955). "If it misses its objective, Deraniyagala continues, "its head lands upon the perimeter of the circle formed by employing its erected body length as the radius."

Of course before anti-venom serum became generally available, much reliance was placed on traditional snake-bite remedies contained in ola-leaf manuscripts. As Robert Knox writes in An Historical Relation of Ceylon (London: 1681): "When the people are bitten by any of these (snakes) they are cured by charms and medicines, if taken and applied in time."

In a footnote to Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon (London: 1859), Sir James Emerson Tennent mentions in passing a Sinhalese manuscript of serpent lore and snake-bite remedies that he calls the Sarpa-dosa. The only snippet of information that Tennent gives about this manuscript is that it divides the cobra into four castes:

"- the raja, or king; the bamanu, or Brahman; the velanda, or trader; and the govi, or agriculturist. It is more than probable, as the division represents the four castes of the Hindus - Chastriyas, Brahmans, Vaisyas and Sudras - that the insertion of the govi instead of the latter was a pious fraud of some copyist to confer rank on the Vellalas, the agricultural caste of Ceylon."

Then again, in an Appendix to A Coloured Atlas, Deraniyagala provides an English translation of a manuscript titled Sarapaduteya Nohoth Sarapothaththiya. The author claims to be one Attankari Vijevikrama Lekamlage Loku Appuhamy, "descendant of 39 snake doctors." He states that the remedies he supplies are "the best ones known from the Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya areas and were obtained from the best doctors of the Tri Sinhala." Apparently he wrote it in 1810, "completing it on the full-moon day of Vesak Maha."

Loku Appuhamy begins by defining the scope of the work, which turns out to be quite extensive, covering as it does the bites of a legion of reptiles, animals and insects. Yet the cobra does feature most prominently. In fact his opening words are: "This book deals with the characters of the Nageya or male cobra and the Happinne or female, with snake venom, its effects, the method of ascertaining the species of snake from the man who comes in search of the doctor, the area liable to be bitten on a specific day, and medicine for the cobra administered through the nose and eyes of the patient."

In addition, remedies are provided for the bite of all other snakes. As if that wasn't impressive enough, the work also includes cures for the bite of the mad dog, cat, tarantula, leech, rat, skunk, scorpion, crocodile, monkey, bee, hornet and all types of caterpillar. I should also mention that the typical wounds caused by wild boar is another subject of attention.

This translation contains the following sentence regarding the caste division of the cobra: "The cobra is divisible into the Raja, Bamunu, Velanda and Sudra (Govi) varieties." Unlike the work referred to by Tennent, here the word Govi has not been inserted instead of Sudra. However, Deraniyagala does refer to a later manuscript, known as Sarpa Visa Vinodanaya (1904), in which it is said that Indian works refer to the four castes of cobra as Raja, Bamunu, Velanda and Sudra, whereas those of Ceylon mention Govi instead of Sudra.

According to Appuhamy, cobras of the Raja or Royal caste are supposed to be stoutly built, light or golden-coloured, with a large, light-red hood. They tend to live in vihares and devales. (Indeed, there are many reports of cobras making regular visits to temples and shrines.) When they dance, cobras of the Raja caste are said to work themselves into an elevated position and face the northeast.

Cobras of the Bamunu or Brahmin caste are supposed to be elongated, light golden in colour, and have a preference for the southwest. They are believed to live in trees. When they dance, cobras of the Bamunu caste enlarge their eyes, but only partially expand their hoods. They also coil their bodies into a heap and look upwards.

Cobras of the Velanda or trader caste are supposed to be dark in colour: a hue that is suffused with yellow. They are of medium length and size. Like Raja cobras, Velanda cobras prefer the northeast. They are said to raise their heads about a riyana - equivalent to 0.5 metres - from the ground before expanding their hoods.

Lastly, cobras of the Sudra caste are supposed to be blue-green, mixed with red and white. They are said to eat all types of food and favour caves or holes that face north. As they dance, Sudra cobras coil their bodies into two circles, expand and retract their hoods from time to time, and point their heads towards the south.

Visa Lakshana is the section of Loku Appuhamy's work concerned with describing the action of venom. For example, when a Raja cobra bites someone, only the right side of the victim is affected. On the other hand, only the left side of the victim is affected by the bite of a Bamunu cobra. It is said that the bite of a Velanda cobra causes a high temperature, but only in the right side of the victim's body. However, the bite of the Sudra cobra produces fever and pain all over.

Dutha Lakshana is the section in which the species of offending snake is determined by the behaviour of the messenger who is sent to summon the doctor. Consider the following. If the messenger comes with (a) a large stake, (b) a pointed stick, (c) a broken staff, (d) a pair of scales, a bow or a rope, or (e) a stick with a hole through the middle, and if he should break up the sand or grass with his big toe as he relates the message to the physician, then the latter can be assured that the patient is badly affected.

The words uttered by the messenger are written down and all the "al" letters omitted. The remaining words are counted upon the fingers of one hand commencing from the little finger. When the number of letters are counted to a finish, the finger on which the last letter ends gives the clue to the identity of the species of snake. The little finger, for instance, indicates the bite of a cobra. By using this method the doctor can also ascertain the sex of the victim.

There are other determinants as well. If the messenger is a woman carrying a child, and if she falls near the doctor and wipes her face, the snake responsible is a very venomous variety of cobra.

If the messenger should clasp his or her face, that is another sure sign that the snake is a cobra. The caste of cobra can also be determined, for should the messenger stand to the northeast while relating the message, the snake is a Raja cobra.

Dosa Lakshana is the section in which the identity of the snake is judged by observing the symptoms of the victim. If the body is inflamed and aching, it is due to a cobra's bite.

But symptoms that occur for the cobra sometimes occur for the Russell's viper (tic-polonga) as well. This, supposedly, is because members of these two species occasionally mate, despite the animosity that exists between them - at least in folklore - I have already mentioned. When cross-bred snakes bite their victim, the phlegm that is induced by cobra venom and the bile that is induced by tic-polonga venom develop simultaneously.

If the wound is very dark, it is due to the venom of a pure bred cobra.

Loku Appuhamy provides a complex series of preparations to prevent the spread of cobra venom. I quote: "(a) feed patient the root of a mala gam miris creeper which has ascended the west side of the tree, (b) take some roots of sathsanda and of reru, grind them in kalatuva root juice after mixing with karawala leaf juice or mala bulath leaves, then pour into the nostrils of the victim, (c) if the patient is still poorly, rub the wound with yakki vanassa leaves, then wipe off, (d) take equal parts of mala gam miris seeds, ela korapu (cleaned), mustard seeds and garlic, grind in rata thora leaf juice, and instil into the nostrils of the victim three times, (e) grind together murunga shoots, tender enduru shoots, vassa thalla shoots, and four peppercorns, then scratch the top of the scalp to draw blood and apply this plaster, (f) grind the leaves of koral habara and vassa thalla in lime juice and apply on wound, (g) grind the leaves of hi kirindiya in lime juice and wipe over wound, (h) grind and dissolve murunga bark, dry ginger, heen aratha flour and sathsanda leaves in muru kehel juice, to this add the pol kiri of a thambili and cook over fire, cool and pour into the ears of the bitten man thrice, once every hour."

As cobra victims have been known to die within half an hour of being bitten, or more usually between three and six hours, I become apprehensive at the thought of how long it would take to find all those plants - especially the root of the gam miris creeper that has to have grown on the west side of the tree.

Similarly, I shudder at how long it would take to prepare them and to administer the resultant concoctions and medicines, in particular those that have to be forced into the unfortunate victim's apertures. I think I would rather pin my hopes on a quicker, easier and better-documented method, such as the application of a so-called snake-stone.

One of the earliest references by a European to this remarkable object is contained in Philip Baldaeus' A Description of the Great and Most Famous Isle of Ceylon (Amsterdam: 1672 ) . After listing a variety of snake-bite remedies ranging from holding the wound as near as possible to a flame, to applying the "bruised head" of the offending reptile, Baldaeus concludes: "However the Adderstone (as it is rendered in the English translation, the adder being England's sole venomous snake) surpasses all the rest, but is often adulterated. The right one raises no bubbles on the water and sticks close to the lips, if put to the mouth."

Writing of the snakes encountered on the island, Baldaeus states: "The most dangerous are those called cobres capellos by the Portuguese, which frequently used to kill people whilst I lived at Jaffna. As soon as anybody is stung or wounded by these serpents, they apply the Adderstone to the wound, and give the patient some milk."

Tennent suggests that, "the use of the Pamboo Kaloo, or snake-stone as a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from the coast of Coromandel." He continues by stating that "more than one well-authenticated instance to its successful application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses to what they had described."

In one instance, a friend witnessed two snake charmers catch a cobra, which then bit one of them due to careless handling. Tennent reports: "The blood flowed, and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but, with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took from it two snake-stones, each 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, to which they attached themselves closely; the blood that oozed from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied.

"The stones adhered tenaciously for three of four minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the snakestones dropped off of their own accord; the suffering of the man appeared to subside; he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way without concern."

Tennent also quotes a similar instance told to him by H.E. Reyne of the Department of Public Works. When a snake-charmer visited him one day, Reyne offered the man the princely sum of one rupee if he would catch and rid him of a cobra living nearby:

"We arrived at the spot, he played on a small pipe, and out came a large cobra from an ant hill, which I knew it occupied. On seeing the man it tried to escape, but he caught it by the tail and kept swinging it round until we reached the bungalow. He then made it dance, but before long it bit him above the knee, he immediately bandaged the leg above the bite, and applied a snake-stone to the wound to extract the venom. He was in great pain for a few minutes, but after that it gradually went away, the stone falling off just before he was relieved."

The characteristic of the snake-stone to adhere tenaciously to the skin while extracting venom and then to fall off once it is saturated - rather like a sated leech - is a common feature in descriptions of it in action. Although I have not witnessed the application of a snake-stone, I have seen authentic documentary film footage of a snake-charmer catching a wild cobra and then deliberately allowing it to bite him on the arm. With absolute calm the snake-charmer proceeds to wipe his arm with a cloth before placing the snake-stone on the bitten area. And sure enough, it falls off some minutes later.

Tennent was so curious about the composition of the snake-stone that he sent one for analysis to Michael Faraday, the celebrated British physicist and chemist. Faraday, who is best known for his discoveries of electromagnetic induction and the laws of electrolysis, reported that it was "a piece of charred bone, which has been 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 breaks under pressure, and exhibits an organic structure within.

"When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little ammonia; and, if heated still more highly, carbon burns away, and a bulky white ash is left, retaining the shape and size of the stone."

Tennent concludes from Faraday's analysis: "The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent, to extract the venom from the wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system."

He ends by suggesting, reasonably enough, that the blood Faraday detected in the specimen was that of the snake-bite victim on whom it was last used.- (To be continued)

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