The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1869-03-10
Curing Snake Bites with Ammonia,

A leller rom Australia tells TIN!
story
~ very recent case Of successful
treatment by Professor IInlford of .
man bitten hy a brown snake has ex
cited great interest here, on account o
the novelty Of tie means employed, -
The particulars OF the case were as tol.
lows: a man working on n suburban
railway picked mp on the llne an an
paren'ly dead snakc, LETT there bv Il
fellow servant who supposed he had
illled.lt The head being crushed per-
frctly fiat, and the reptile witlou, mo.
,ion or sign Of life, The man who las,
took 1t up was carelessly handling 1t,
putting his finger to its crushed head,
with the remark that it. would never
bite again, when all at once he became
con&c:2"s !:a! his finger was ,,nnc!nr.d
by the poison fang. lie threw the
thing away, and from ignorance or mis-
belief hat 30 mischief would follow he
went about his business as before. bu,
bccon'ing very drowsy he proceeded to
lie down, informing. howovcr one of his
mates M to what had occurred. The
latter immediately sci about prccariug
medical assistance, but by the time il
arrived the man was comalose, and his
lower cxtrcmitlrs par,lyz"d. Galvnn.
ism and other usual remedies wer. m.
piled, but without effect, the poison
having obtained too strong hold Of his
system to yield to any treatment en-.
rloycA.
In this extremity the medical man
FIRST called caused Prof. llalford to bc
trlcgraphrd Tor, rs it was known that he
had been for long time past invesl
gl'ng, by means Of the microscope and
Otherwise, the effect produced on the
blood corpnsrlrs by the poison Of ll.n
snake. His experiments had lead Inn
to think il probable that the Injection
OF ammonia into the circulation through
4 vrla might courtrract The morbid con.
di''"n OF lhr blood pro1nccd by the
poison. Following up his theory he
had txp"rimcnlcd on a dog with suc-
cess. The case to which he was now
called was, however the fret opnortun.
ty he had bad of applying his new treat.
ment TO human creature, aud he felt
som" hesitation in rcsorting toit. As,
however, thu ems" was so obviously
desperate one Under ordinary treatment,
it could MOI be made worse by the trial.
and tho supposed new remedy wns mp
The medical men describe the opc-
ration as Cllows: An inc,<lon was made
through the skin, exposing the super
licial radial vein, and The point of the
syringe being introduced into the vein
The injection (of ammonia) was com.
plctcd. The beneficial effect was mar
vrll,us and immediate. From an al.
most nulscless slate, and from s,upor
vcrglrg on dcnth the patient speedily
became conscious. He has been stcadi-
ly recovering since, and he is now re-.
ported to be nearly we'll. Some Of our
leading medical men ar. in ccacics at
he result OF this treatment. and con-
slider that Professor Halfords discovery
ranks with that of vaccination, or the
circulation oflhc blood Whcthe, The ear
lier treatment in any way contributed to
the cure. cannot. perhaps. be certainly
known; but there appears TO DC lul
donbt-,he medical men entertain none
that the case must have rnGrd fatal
~ hnl for Profess Halforls treatment.
IL is said here that the Indian Govern.
me"t some time h#cl; offered & large
reward for The discovery Of specific for
snake bites. 1t will soon bt. known in
other cases whether this may be- added
10 ON sum OF certain knowledge. I
| should add HAT similar treatment il re-
ported in our newspapers to have been
successful both at Bcccl,worth. in this
colony, and at Newcastle, in New South
Wales.