Snake Indians

The Yorock Indians used a stick of elder to measure graves. The Snake Indians used the hollowed stems to store crickets as winter food supplies. 

The venoms of poisonous snakes contain (among other things) a class of enzymes known as phospholipases, enzymes that cause the breakdown of phospholipids. For example, the venoms of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) and the Indian cobra Naja naja) both contain phospholipase Ag, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of fatty acids at the C-2 position of glyc-erophospholipids. 

The sea snake is a marine-adapted serpent belonging to the family of Hydrophi-idae. There are many varieties of sea snakes with different colors, shapes, and sizes. They are well adapted for the marine environment and have a flat tail and a salt gland. Sea snakes are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters along the coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are not found in the Atlantic Ocean. 

A. indica L. Indian Aristolochia, also known as Indian birthwort, ishvara (Sanskrit), or adagam (Tamil), is a bitter climber native to India. The medicinal material consists of the rhizome, which is to resolve inflammation (India), counteract insect poison, and as an antipyretic (Philippines and Vietnam). The rhizome contains aristolochic acid, which inhibits in vitro and dose-dependent phospholipid hydrolysis by the human synovial fluid phospholipase A2, snake venom phospholipase A2, porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2, and human platelet phospholipase A2 (2). 

Alam MI, Gomes A. Snake venom neutralization by Indian medicinal plants (Vitex negundo and Emblica officinalis) root extracts. J Ethnopharmacol 2003 86 75-80. 

Other plants known to contain psychoactive compounds include hellebore, which was used for centuries in Europe to treat mania, violent temper, mental retardation and epilepsy. However, a drug of major importance in modern psychopharmacology arose from the discovery by medicinal chemists of the alkaloids of Rauwolfia serpentina, a root which had been used in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, not only for the treatment of snake bite but also for alleviating "insanity". Understandably, the mechanism of action of reserpine, the alkaloid purified from Rauwolfia serpentina, helped to lay the basis to psychopharmacology by demonstrating how the depletion of central and peripheral stores of biogenic amines was correlated with a reduction in blood pressure and tranquillization. 

Where the snake has been identified and specific antivenom is available, then this should be used. However, since treatment is urgent, and identification of snakes is difficult, in many Asian countries polyvalent antivenom is used. The Indian anti-snake venom (ASV), manufactured by Serum Institute India, Pune, and Haffkine Bio Pharmaceutical Corporation, Mumbai, consists of hyperimmune horse serum against four common snakes - cobra, common krait, Russell s viper and saw-scale viper. 

The discovery that the toxins of Elapid snakes bind almost irreversibly to the AChR also facilitated the isolation and study of this receptor. The structure of these venoms has been elucidated those most widely used experimentally are the a-bungarotoxin (BTX) of the Indian cobra and the toxin of the Siamese cobra. These compounds are peptides containing from 61 to 74 amino acids, five disulfide bridges, and a high proportion of basic arginine and lysine residues, often in close proximity. Venoms are toxic because they block cholinergic neurotransmission by binding to the receptor. 

Reserpine, an alkaloid, and the active ingredient of Rauwolfia serpentina, the Indian snakeroot, was the basis of the first major tranquilizer. Reserpine was used in the treatment of snake bites, high blood pressure, and... 

According to what the Indians tell me, everything appears to be larger and more beautiful than it is in reality. The house appears immense and splendrous. A host of people is seen, especially women. The erotic appears to play a major role in this intoxication. Huge multicolored snakes wind themselves around the house posts. All colors are very brilliant. 

Achyranthes aspera (family Amaranthaceae) is an indigenous medicinal plant of Asia and is commonly used by traditional healers for the treatment of malarial fever, dysentery, asthma, hypertension and diabetes (Girach and Khan, 1992). A root extract is also used to treat scorpion and snake bites by Indian tribes. A typical yellows and small leaves symptoms... 

Certain snake toxins have been found to bind irreversibly to the acetylcholine receptor, thus blocking cholinergic transmissions. These include toxins such as alpha-bungarotoxin from the Indian cobra. The toxin is a polypeptide containing 70 amino acids which cross-links the alpha and beta subunits of the cholinergic receptor (see Section 11.14.). 

Arnold Krochmal, Ph.D., in his hook Medicinal Plants of the United States, briefly mentions Gulf Coast Indians who made an infusion of the leaves and roots for dysentery and for relieving stomach pain. From the inner trunk bark, they also made poultices for insect and snake bites and skin ulcers. The Houma of Louisiana used a decoction of the root for sore eyes, high blood pressure, and kidney problems. The fruits of closely related species of palms have been used as medicine tWughout the Caribbean and the Yucatan in Mexico. Sabal japa fruit bears a close resemblance to the fruit of saw palmetto an extract of that fruit is used as a sedative and digestive stimulant. It was also used for respiratory problems and for weakness of the reproductive system. 

Echinacea angustifolia DC, E. purpurea (L.) Moench, E. pallida (Nutt.) Britton, American cone flower, black susans, comb flower, hedgehog, Indian head, Kansas snakeroot, narrow-leaved purple cone flower, purple cone flower, scurvy root, snake root (Anonymous, 1996)... 

In the upper left corner are several Indian and mestizo shamans. The one to the left is a mestizo, expert in the use of ayahuasca. Next comes a Shipibo curandero able to heal his patients from a distance. Then comes a Campa shaman capable of transforming himself into any kind of snake. The next one is a criollo [of white descent] shaman who learned to perform sorcery through the supay-tuyuyo. In this vision he tried to harm the Shipibo shaman with his supaytuyuyo, but the Shipibo sent his huaira-nacanaca [nacanaca = snake, huaira = airj to kill the bird. 

The plant or plants ealled Lobelia have a track record in the treatment of infectious diseases, including tetanus and blood poisoning. The Iroquois Indians used Lobelia syphilitica, as the scientific name implies, against venereal diseases, maybe even uterine cancer. In the Civil War the species Lobelia inflata was used variously as an enema and for snake, spider, and insect bites. 

Not only the Kraits produce a-neurotoxins. The Indian Cobra Cobra naja naja) also utilises one of fhe mosf pofenf of all fhe snake toxins, cobratoxin, which is also an a-neurotoxin. Cobratoxin is phenomenally toxic only 4.5 mg is needed to kill a human. In fact, a single Cobra can produce sufficient toxin to kill ten men. The Sea Kraits (e.g. Laticauda semifasciata from Malaysia) are the most toxic of all snakes they produce erabutoxin which is an a-neurotoxin of unbelievable potency, but fortunately, as discussed earlier, they have small jaws, which makes it difficult for them to bite a human. 

The venoms of certain snakes contain enzymes called phospholipases that catalyze the hydrolysis of carboxylic ester bonds of phospholipids. The venom of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adaman-teus) and that of the Indian cobra (Naja naja) both... 

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