The Toda utkòren may practise ‘absent treatment.’ If a man wishes to treat a sufferer from the evil eye, and is unable to visit his patient, he puts the salt on the ground and strokes it with the thorn of pathanmul, repeating the above incantation as he strokes. He then sends the salt to the sick man, by whom it is eaten.
The treatment in any case is repeated till it has been done three times.
If it is a buffalo which is suffering from the evil effects of kanarvasnudr, the utkòren use the same method, and the salt is eaten by the buffalo.
In the special case in which the evil is produced by saying that a man is looking well or is well dressed, the utkòren have a different method. They take a piece of the root called kabudri,[10] and a plant called kwagal, and squeeze the juice of [[265]]both into a vessel. An incantation is said, the same as, or similar to, that already given, while the utkòren strokes the sick man with the corner of his cloak. After the incantation the sufferer drinks the juice.
Various Magical Remedies
The utkòren also practise various other methods of treatment.
Headache. This is called madersnûdr, “if head aches.” For this the utpol places his hand on the head of the sufferer, and says the following incantation in a low voice, so that the patient may not distinguish what is being said.[11] After the names of the four gods, as in previous formulæ, it runs:—
nâkherov cobra mad head tathi kan broken into pieces tath mâ; not break may; ker a snake mad tathi &c. kan tath mâ;
and the same formula is repeated, substituting first the names of other kinds of snake and then of other animals. The following are the animals mentioned: kûrûpatz, a black poisonous snake; putpob, a variegated snake, which is called the foolish snake, because it will not get out of the way; taverûni, a green snake; pâlipob, another green snake; uitch, a kind of lizard reputed to suck blood; anîli, a squirrel; kapan, a frog; tugûli, a crayfish(?); kadrmad, a water animal of some kind; mîn, a fish; îgal, an earthworm; nelnpüf, an insect found under stones; âpipüf, an insect found in buffalo dung. After all these animals have been mentioned with the same formula, the names of Pithioteu and Ön are again uttered, followed by the words tathkhma. The utpol flicks the corner of his cloak first against the ground, and then against the forehead of the sufferer, and then, if the man is sitting, he says, “ateuk ir,” “sit there off!” and the man moves a little way from the place where he had been sitting. If the man is unable to sit, and is lying down, the words will be “ateuk padr,” “lie there off!” or “lie a little way off!” [[266]]