Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-04-30

can Farmer has long article from DR.. Harden,
Of Morgan county, Georgia, on "Snake bites"
He contests the commonly received opinion, that
the spirits of hartshorn 1.-THE ammonia of the che
misrs) is the only nfaIlible remedy for the bite
of the rattIe.snake. THE ammonia, by the bye,
is the antdote to the prussc-acid.) One reason
why it has been supposed to be an antidote to
the venom of the snake Is, be cause the poi
son has been believed to be strong acid,
which is neMra!ized by its combination with the
alkii (the spirits Of hartshorn.l But even ad.
hitting the poison to be an acid, the Doctor asks
how long it would be before the alkali, when ia
ken internally, would get into the circulation of
the blood, to come in contact with the poisonf-
and whether it is not likely to undergo great che.
micaI changes, before il can 60 the rounds OF the
circulation
But the Doctor denies that the poison Of the
rattle. snake is an acid at all-and in proof of
this, he relates the following anecdote:
"In large new ground, Oh the river had
cleared, there was an unusual number OF rattle
snakes. One very large one, while extended on
the ground, had his head cut of with al axe
He was not injured in any other part by squeez-
ing the poison bags on poch SIDE, collected Sc
veral drops Of the poison. This was the pure
poison; it came out of the holes ib his poison
fangs; it was about the colour but rather more
fluid than good olive oil. collected it on goose
quill tootn picker. applied small quantity
to the palm Of of my hand; it not producing any
sensation, appIedt to the back of my hand;
it there producing no sensation, | now protrud-
ed my tongue and dropped one drop on the point
of it. felt a sensation Immediately. care
fully washed my mouth and hands; the taste was
peculiar; 1t produced sense of warmth; kind
of heat. accompanied with feeling of tremor.
Finding the heat and trem0r increase, became
uneasy, aud rode home quickly; for now, when
alarmed. was anxious to apply harshorn, al
though had no confidence in it before. Some
hartshorn and water were held considerable
time in my mouth, and thought the pain rather
increased. 1t was now sufficiently painful to be
unpleasant. | now washed my mouth with
olive oil and sweet milk, which gave relief. An
unpleasant sensation, however, continued for
several hours before 1t totally left me. That
night my sleep was much disturbed, and awoke
several times with a burning in the stomach,
which was relieved by drinking cup Of sweet
milk. This, however, should say might not
have been produced from the poison. | vas in
bad health and troubled with acid stomach, eat
no supper; and the burning Of the stomach may,
and probably was, produced from acidlty; some
thing may be allowed for conceit. My principal
object was to know, If the poison was acid; and
can state, positively, that did not discover
one particle of acithty. This to my mind proves
beyond all doubt that rattle snake poison is not
acid, and that hartshorn administered under
such belief IS useless"
DR.. II. contends. that there are very few cases
of the bite which prove fatal. He has never seen
one but what recovered. Indeed, he knows "of
no cases on record but what recovered, if the
patient lived long enough to use any remedy, ex-
cept three, and all three Of these cases we're
from confined snakes; 10 these it appears the
snakes scratched the part with their teeth more
than wounded, BY biting: The bite from impri-
soned snakes, it would appear, in1icts more
deadly wound, and produces different symptoms
from such as occur from the snake in his natural
mode of living; and although we may hear Of
many deaths from snake bites, yet when we will
properly investigate, we will always find they are
from hearsay; bring men to what they have seen.
and not what they have heard, and we will find
few. very few, almost none. ever do die from
snake bites, and death in those few cases is al
ways Immediate"
1t may produce an agony of pain: great swell
ing of the bitten part, violent distress and gid
diness in the head, tremor Of the nerves, vomit-
ing, &c &c. but he contends, that unless the bite
prove rnInediatelv mortal there are variety OF
remedle. 10 relieve the patient. Tie has given
relief N one case by binding chew of tobacco
around the nonnd. in another, by using strong
Nv, another by administering camPhor internal,
". lie euerta,ns a good opinion OF milk and
of sweet OIL The mode Of treatment he re-
commeu,s is the simplest in the world-wash
the wonyd we'll w,'h soap and warm water
then apply large poultice of Corn MsaL-
" This (says he) is the most important remedy,
worth all the rest together; nothing that We can
use gives such quick and great relief; it should
be large, sufficient to cover the whole limb;
smai! Poultce Of common size is doing nothing
= as soon as il becomes cool, remove it, and ap-
ply another equally large.-Those who have not
seen il tried will scarcely believe it possible that
relief can be so speedily obtained as it is by the
use Of these mammoth poulrices which recon-
mend" And it's by a corn meal poultice, that
h. proposes to diss,pate the horrors of the stout
est hearts and bravest men," and to relieve one
Of the most violent agonies "~hich flesh is heir
to-" Ifthis be true. and the man seems to write
soberly and sensibly tno, he deserves our thanks
for the simplicity of his cure. He puts US to no
&. r. ,la nj ale-fOr pYnenSiye COM