Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-07


 4ustralia and America. To these we have to add the small volume before us by Dr. Wall. ''Indian Snake-poisons, their Nature and Effects, '' containing some experiments car ried on by him under the auspices of the In- dian government to eIucidate some obscure points in the physiological action of snake poisoning, and test the theories and expert ence of previous observers.
 Dr. Walls essay is not clinical study of snake poisoning of the human subject, but of the physiological action and the micro scopic and chemical nature of the poisons of the colubrine and the yiperine snakes, under which heads he includes all the poisonous members of the family. He takes the cobra, the most vicious and fatal of the Indian snakes, as the type of the former, under which he also includes the Australian snakes and the Daboia Russellii, large, fierce and deadly viper common to India and Ceylon, as the type of the latter, with which he in- cludes the rattlesnakes of America, and we may add, our own viper. It is popularly be- heved that the poisonous or non-poisonous nature of 8 snake-bite can be determined by the marks left on the skin by the fangs of poisonous anakasa prod1cing only two incl sions, while 6 double TOW corresponding to their numerous set of teeth is the result of 0 bite inflicted by non-peisonous snake. But Dr. Wall has no confidence in this superficial diagnosis, as the fatal bite of the cobra is sometimes invisible to the naked eye. and some innocuous snakes possess large teeth which produce wounds similar in appearance to those of poisonous snakes, and he believes it is absolutely necessary to make free incl sion through the skin to ascertain the condi. tion of the subcutaneous tissues. The im- mediate local effect of snake poisoning is to produce intense irritation and consequent congestion and rednesS of the deeper tissues, while 1t produces little change in the appear ance of the skin; and this condition, he as- serts, is always present in poisoned and al- ways absent in non-potsoned snake-bites. Dr. Wall Is the more urgent for the adoption of this course because it is favorable for ef- fecting the only method of cure in which he has any faith-namely, the entire removal by the knife of all the poisoned structure be- fore the venom can be absorbed into the system. This is, however, somewhat seri- ous operation, which requires the skilled eye and hand of the surgeon to perform, and it may well be asked If no simpler remedy is available.
 Are none of the popular methods of use, such as sucking the wound, injecting anti dotes or autiseptics into it, burning gunpow der on it, or employing any of the hundred and one 'tcures" which have been vaunted from time immemorial by ignorant old wo- men and timid people for this as for other incurable diseases? To all these devices Dr. Wall objects after careful examination as useless or worse, as they induce feelings of false security and lead to 8 loss of valuable time. Suction is not only useless, but is not quite free from danger to persons employing it. and he asks those who believe in its effica- cy to try to prevent the narcotic symptoms of dose of morphia which has been in- jected simultaneously. The author has ex- amined thoroughly the action of antiseptios and chemical agents on snake poison, and this is one of the most instructive and valua- ble parts of his work, as his experiments help us to understand the mode of action and the treatment of other animal poisons. He proves satisfactorily that the virus of snakes does not owe it's peculiar properties to Ftgerms," but that it is perfectly structure less pIasma, whose physiological action is lit tie influenced by such materials as carbolic acid, and that it retains it's poisonous proper ties after being heated for an hour to tenn perature of 224.60 Fahrenheit, a temperature which 1t is hardly probable organic germs could survive. On the other hand, the dis infectants, which act by destroying organic compounds, such as chlorine, sulphurous acid and chloride zinc, have marked effect in weakening the activity Of the virus while the permanganate of potash-better known by the name of Condy's fnid-complete suspends it by parting with it's oxygen and decom posing it's albuminous constituents. This simple chemical action of the perman- ganate of potash has been misunderstood, and has been considered to be of special or antidotal nature; hence the practice of in- jecting it into the blood in cases of snake poisoning. Dr. Wall very justly points out that it's action on all other organic compounds is the same, and that when injected into the body it spends it's force on the first albumi- nous structures with which 1t comes in cone tact, and has no special affinity for or selec- tive action for snake venom.
 No substance of an antidotal character has yet been discovered, but when it is borne in
 
 of the more powerful vegetable alkRloids ex- ert on each other, there is ample encourage ment for continuing to seek for one. As about ninety per cent. of snake bites occur on the arms and legs, great importance is at tached to the immediate application of hg- wound. Dr. Wall thinks that the common mode of tying a piece of string or calico round the limb often fails to stop the circu- lation, and recommends as a substitute @ piece of india-rubber bandage, similar to Es- march's, employed by surgeons for bleodless operations. This is an excellent suggestion, if there were any hope that such bandages would be at hand when required, which in- deed is very unlikely. We think that our author is a little hypocritical in this particu- lar; an ordinary ligature applied to the arm between the elbow and shoulder-and to the thigh will be quite efectual, while the difficulty of stopping the circulation in the AIm DelOW buo 01DOWy hUu HI buo A6B OcAOW the knee, can be overcome by inserting small pads in the hollows formed by the double-set bones. When the constitutional symptoms of snake-poisoning set in there is little to be done except to try to steer the patient through their course by administering light food and stimulants when necessary, and by resorting to artificial respiration in a few suitable cases. The system of treating vic- tim of snake-poisoning as if he were suffer ing from narcotic poisoning and keeping him moving about is most injurious, and the op- posite course should always be adopted. pr. We'll has found no benefit accrue from the injection of ammonia or the permanganate of potash into the blood, nor does he speak encouragingly of the treatment, so often followed in India and elsewhere, of giving large quantities of alcohol to the extent Of producing intoxication.
 With regard to the prevention of the nor tality from snake bite, the Indian govern ment relies on offering rewards for killing poisonous snakes and the occupation of snake-killer is no doubt much more lucrative than that of rat catcher in this country. The natives, who go about their work bare-footed and generally more than half naked, are of ten too much under the influence of the an cient superstition of snake-worship to make war on snakes with prospect of extermina- ting them. Sir Joseph Fayrer tells us that they often object to killing cobras which may have taken up their quarters in their houses lest some misfortune may fall on their house or family. ''Should fear, and perhaps the death of some inmate by accident, prove stronger than superstition, the cobra may be caught, tenderly handled, and deported to some field, where it is released and allowed to depart in peace" The mongoose is the natural enemy of the snake, and, although 1t seems to be as tamable as the cat, its depre- dations on the poultry yard will always pre- vent it taking the place of the cat in the m. dian's household. Dr. Wall mentions fact relative to the mode of attack of the mon goose on poisonous snakes which we we do e,ish not remember seeing stated before, and which places that animal very high in the scale of snakes chief enemies, the mongoose, has no fear whatever of the poison, as anyone will confess who has seen with what complete ease he selzes the snake and brushes out first one and then the other of the poison fangs with his long incisors, and then devours the cobra-thus rendered helpless-at his leisure That the mongoose is perfectly aware of the existence of the poison-fang there can be no doubt, for he only seizes the cobra by the fang; and should he miss his aim he retires at once out of reach to make fresh attack