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 placed below and above the drugs to give the medicines strength. The patient is usually obliged to swallow many potsful of medicine, each pot containing two or three quarts. If the patient dies, the doctor gets no fee. The influence which Western medical science is exerting in Siam is shown in the following incident, mentioned in a recent Bangkok newspaper. The young man alluded to is a graduate of the Presbyterian mission boarding-school: “Dr. Tien Hee, who received a diploma from the New York University School of Medicine, where he graduated some years ago, performed a very difficult and delicate operation a few days ago upon a distinguished Siamese official, and we learn with pleasure that the king has since graciously permitted him to practice in the royal palace.” A writer in the same paper gives the following account of a hospital established by the Siamese, and conducted by a graduate of a Western medical college, the same that is mentioned above: “To-day (November 29th) I had the pleasure of visiting the first and only hospital organized and controlled by the Siamese within the kingdom of Siam. It was opened for the reception of patients on the 14th of December. It is a large, airy, two-storied building, situated within the city-walls, near Sampeng market-gate, and has capacity for sixty patients. It is a hospital devoted to the exclusive care of soldiers, and is under the management of a Siamese physician, Dr. Tien Hee. Siam owes the establishment of its first hospital to the energy of one of its most intelligent noblemen, Pra Nai Wai, who completed and presented the building for it to the Siamese government. His Majesty accepted the gift and has promised it his support. It has for its director a cultivated and capable Siamese physician, who will be able to give the patients the benefit of Western medical and surgical science.” CHAPTER XV. _CHOLERA-TIMES IN BANGKOK._