Page:Siam and Laos, as seen by our American missionaries (1884).pdf/246

 shiped as the father of medicine. To him it is said the plants all spoke, telling their names and medical properties. These were written in books, and have become sacred. If they fail to produce the effects attributed to them, the fault is never theirs, but the want of success is due to the absence of merit in either doctor or patient. The natives use almost everything as medicine; the bones and skins of various animals occupy a large part of their pharmacop[oe]ia, while the galls of snakes, tigers, lizards, etc. are among the most valuable of their medicines. Many of the Siamese remedies are very complicated, being composed of scores of different ingredients.

The following is a characteristic prescription for the bite of a snake: A portion of the jaw of a wild hog; a portion of the jaw of a tame hog; a portion of the jaw of a goat; a portion of goose-*bone; a portion of peacock-bone; a portion of the tail of a fish; a portion of the head of a venomous snake. These, being duly compounded, form a popular remedy when the venom has caused lockjaw.

Many other native remedies are equally marvelous, but I cannot mention them. Every native physician has an image of the father of medicine in his house. The drugs are placed in this idol's hand and receive his blessing; afterward they are taken to the patient's house and boiled in earthen pots, a wickerwork star being