The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-11-01
Antldotes to Snake Persons.


crime c. Hopley writes on the sub &c
of 1.-The Venoms and Their Remedies,
as follows:
ITO conceive of an antidote to snak
poison in the true sense of the term,
SIR John Fayrer explains. lone mus
imagine substance so subtle as t,
follow, overtake and neutralize tn,
venom in the blood; one that shall hav,
the power of counteracting and neu
tralizing the deadly influence it has ex
erted on the vital forces. Such sub
stance has still to be found. and ou
present Sperience of the action of drug
does not lead to hopeful anticipation
that we shall find it"
With regard to the many drugs uset
in various countries for the cure O
snake bite, it is curious to note that a:
a rule. they are procured from the mos
deadly plants. AS like cures like, SC
poison cures poison. Pennyroval, say.
Charas. was held to the nose OF viper
who by turning and WEIGHING. laborec
hard to avoid it, and in half an hour.
time was killed by it. This was in July
at which season these creatures are
computed to be in the greatest vigor Of
their poison.
Another drug which is poison to 8
venomous snake is tobac o, within the
reach OF most persons. This. among
native remedies, has always been in
favor, and we have heard of its efficacy
ever since the weed was known to Eu.
ropeans. Various species of tobacco
and its allies are indigenous to mo,i
tropical countries, and probably were
| n
long before civilized nations took com
fort in smoking. Man carries more
poison in his mouth than snake, said
an old Virginian writer, alluding to nico.
tine. He can poison a rattlesnake more
quickly than it can him. Nicholson
states that it also rapidly affects a
cobra and he recommends it. should
you wish to destroy the snake unin-
iured. ''You have.''' he says, but to
blow into its mouth a drop or two oil
the oil from dirty pipe" il
Two young men chopping wood to-
| gether in Virginia espied rattlesnake.
With forked stick one of them held
its head close 10 the ground, keeping
the body constrained with his foot,
while his comrade took from his own
mouth qud OF tobacco which he
forced into that of the snake. The
reptile was then released, and had not
crawled couple OF yards before it
was Convulsed, swelling and dying with
in short time. Stryohnine appears to
have similar effect to tobacco on
snakes. Fayrer found cohras extreme
| ly susceptible to the influence of
| strychnine. An almost impalpable
| quantity caused cobra to twist it.
self up in rigid series of coils and die.
Carbolic acid is another drug which
produces powerful elects. Poured on
the floor of their cages it will kill VEN
omous snakes in a very short time. A
large Bungarus died in ten minutes in
this way.
The whole secret of cures-when
cures can be effected at ALLIES in
promptness. 1t is celebrity on the part
of the Indians which insures their sue
cess. In an Instant, if his comrade is
bitten, the savage is on his knees suck
ing the wound, graspng the limb firm
lly or strapping it tightly above and be-
low the bite, knowing quite we'll the
Importance of checking the REGULATION.
He has CHS poison pills" and tobacco
in his pouch. He explodes gun powder
on the wound and loses not an instant,
nor does the victim loose heart. He
submits with courage and confidence,
and in these lies another element of
success. Many cases are ON record of
persons being at deaths door through
fear alone, when bitten by harmless
snake, but recovering on being assured
that there was no danger. And other
cases are well known where bitten per-
sons have died of fright and the de-
pressing influence surrounding the
accident. when they might possibly
have recovered.
And now for few words about the
most popular and perhaps most attain
able OF all remedies-alcohol. No
wonder the backwoodsman resorts to
this, which without any chopping off of
fingers or toes, or personal pyrotechnics,
or other local tortures. deadens his SEN
sibilities. renders him unconscious of
all suffering, and sends him into a hap
Ply obliviousness of danger. 1t is not
refined mode of treatment nor one
that presents many opportunities of ex-
hibiting professional skill, and it ia no
doubt somewhat derogatory to admit
that to become dead drunk is an effect
i've victory against snake venom.
The quantity sometimes swallowed
under such circumstances is utterly in
credible. Prof. sHalford describes a
snake-bite, near Melbourn, in which
two bottles of brandy were drank with
out any symptoms of intoxication, and
another OF a girl, of fourteen who
when bitten by an Australian snake,
drank three bottles with out being in
toxicated. She recovered.
Alcohol has powerful attractions for
oxygen, writes Prof Halford, on the
theory that the venom has produced
fore en- cells in the blood; SO that if al
cohol engage the oxygen absorbed by
the poison, the cells perish and recov-
cry ensues. DR.. Shortt, of Madras,
says: Bring the patient ucder the in lu-
ence of intozication as speedily as pos
sible; make him drunk and keep him
drunk until the virus is overcome. DIR.
Weir Mitchell states that delicate wo-
men and young children under the inffu-
ence of snake poison could take quarts
of brandy without injury. aud almost
without effect. One mana man OF
temperate habits-took one quart and
half pint of brandy, which only
slightly intoxicated him for about four
hours. Another man bitten in the
throat, was cured at the end of twenty
four hours, during which time he had
two quarts OF whisky in one night, and
renewed, as the pulse fell. besides red
pepper and other stimulants.