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2 poison is swallowed in considerable quantity, it is quite harmless,
3 as it becomes decomposed by the chyle. The poultry which I
4 killed in the experiments I made, my cook, who was a Mahomedan,
5 would certainly have prepared for the table with great repug-
6 nance, owing to their not having been Halal, i.e. killed in the
7 name of God, by letting their blood flow, but had perished
8 whilst the blood was in them ; my sweeping man, however, a
9 Bangee of the Pariah caste, eat them with avidity, and grew
10 corpulent upon the fare.
11 The following case may prove that all large serpents are not
12 dangerous, but on the contrary, sometimes even useful. One
13 day my domestics caught a large one in the surdekhana or
14 teikhana (cellar), which they had killed and thrown it into the
15 street. When I observed its extended stomach, I was desirous
16 of knowing the contents, and having caused it to be opened, we
17 found a rat, which had been swallowed by the serpent whole,
18 and my domestics regretted having destroyed such a brave rat-
19 catcher.
20 Speaking of serpents, I may mention here a particular disease,
21 which they designate at Lahore, Mar-ash ekh (serpent-love), and
22 which, according to their statement, occurs only in the Punjab.
23 I never heard of it in any other place ; and I mention it, hoping
24 that the English physicians, particularly those now living in
25 that country, will take the trouble to investigate the subject, and
26 ascertain whether this disease is peculiar to the Punjab, and
27 why it occurs only between the Indus and the Sutlej.
28 Should the investigation of this curious disease lead to a
29 satisfactory result, and should any one be successful in capturing
30 a real musk-deer in the Punjab, I should be much gratified, and
31 science would be enriched.
32 The faqueer Noor-oo-Deen, at Lahore, who at present enjoys
33 great respect from the English, for his extended knowledge and
34 eminent merits, was the first who directed my attention to the
35 disease I have mentioned, a short time before my first departure
36 from Lahore in the year 1832, and who introduced to me at that
37 time a patient afflicted with it. It was a laundry man, of the