Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-12
A GOOD TTRASHTNG.

Many people are in the h tbit of assur |
ing their friends that theJ enjoy very |
poo health " not meauing by this asser-
ton to express Contentment with Their
condition. hut the contrary. When !,
however. tell you that ! once had jolly
good rhra-hnu, there is a SPECIAL lntCn-
tiun in every word OF the phrase. The
castigatiou VAS jolly, because l thor
oughly rrliShed every blow as ii fell on
nv body: and it was good. because 1t
saved my lite. The circumstances in
which took this very unusual form OF
gratiiicatiOn were as follows:
was living at Trimurtigherry, where
| had small cotton cleaning and press
ing factory. The cotton grown from IN
dircnous seed in that district has but "A
poor staple, and, in fact, is crop only
cultivated on soils which are considered
too poor for cereals. This inferiorlty OF
quality naturally deferred shippers from
placing orders freely with me; and in the
hope Of demonstrating to the ryots the
advantage Of paying more attention to the
industry. / procured il variety of seed
from America. aud formed small model
plantation near my bungalow.
II succeeded very well. and "a the bolls
ripened. used carefully 10 gather them
mysclf, in order to keep the different
kinds distinct. and to test the yield
| was engaged one morning in this
manner, and was in the act of plucking
some pods off tree, when felt a sharp
bite on my right wrist. At the same in
stant saw a snake drop To the ground
and writhe rapidly away. i noticed
bright yellow line on each side of the
upper surface of the reptiles head con
ycrgcut on the snout, and | feared, only
too Justly that | had been bitten by
tiC-pOlunga. the dabOia RUSSELL, one OF
the most common Of vCnomous snakes.
II ANYTHING were needed to confirm my
misgivings, it was supplied by glance
at nv injured wrist. \ look was Sutfl-
cient, and | instantly knew that the
wound had been inflicted by poisonous
serpent.
There is an unmistakable indication of
the nature of snake bites, the non-polson-
Gus being marked by the teeth Of the AMI
NAL whereas poisonous OucS are dis
:iuguished by only two puncturcs. The
two fatal marks where the creature s
faugs had pierced my skin were only too
plainly visible.
.'Nt least INV DESTROYER shall not eS-
cape, and springing forward, crushed
the snake which proved to he a tic-pol-
uuga, under my heel, just as it was reach
ing CrCyiCe in the earth, where it would
have been safe.
Revenge was Ger .ainly my primary i'm
pulse in killing the reptile, but had
secondary object, which was to ascertain
his age and size, rs the consequences at
tendaut on n poisonous snake bite are
materially affected thereby. The tic
polunga attainS a length of fifty inches,
and death generally rapidly supervenes
ON the bite of full grown specimen, cs-
pecially if the wounded part happen TO
be one of the cNtremities, such a a finger
or toe which can be fairly seized between
the animals jaws. The venom is in that
case injected deeply into the flesh, and
/ ComminCliug at once with the blood. is
rapidly diiTuscd through the veins and
arteries. and reaching the heart, para
lives the action Of that organ. But if the
part attacked present wider surface so
/ that the epidermis may perhaps only be
abraded and the subcuticle remain un-
pierced. the chances of remedial measures
! proving effiCaCiOus are greatly increased,
! while the consequences of any wound in
I fiicted 10y daboia of not more than
: l"tHlN vi ANtht -Ipti iAiNItS may SSh
/ orally be counteracted.
= The degree of danger from snake bite
/ also depends considerably ON several
other conditions. such as the health of the
/ patient; whether the snake has recently
made "A meal or bitten any other object,
/ in which case it will have exhausted its
! poison glands: and, finally, the time of
! day. rs in the early morning. when the
aSr - mi and chilly "A snake IL lanyrpiI
and Will strike with comparatively little
/ energy. whereas during the heat of the
/ day it is active and generally very fierce.
/ The circumstances of my case seemed
! decidedly against me. The tic-pnlonga
| 7 had killed was at least thirty inches
/ long. and therefore. capable of inflicting
mortal wound; it was fasting, and its
/ poison glands must consequently have
/ been fully charged at the moment it bit
/ me-it was after o'clock, and a very
hot day, and the bite on my wrist was
/ very deep. The only point in my favor
was that | was in excellent health.
/ knew the awful gravity of my situation,
! and was aware that unless some remedies
were applied immediately, should Ger
| taiuly be dead in three quarters of an
hour at the longest.
There was no surgeon or apOthecary
within fifteen miles of my factory, but
] | fortunately had some knowledge of the
proper method of dealing with such cases
! as my own, having once seen ryot being
treated for a snake bite by the remedies
/ proposed 10 apply TO myself, only re-
| membered with melancholy interest that
:he unfortunate IIinduo had died, not
wtihstanding the unremitting eXertions
| made to save his life.
The treatment for snake bite is ligature
of the limb above the wound, free incis,
ion, sucking. cauteriZatiOn, bathing the
! wound with ammonia, and taking am.
monia or brandy internally. Remember
ing these directions, | rushed into the
bungalow and made very efficient
tourniquct with walking stick and q
wet towel, which passed round my fore
arm, effectually stopping the circulation.
| also summo ned my boy Veerapen to my
assistance, aud as | had no ammonia in
the house, | ordered him To open a bottle
of brandy with all speed. While Veera.
| pen was getting the COgnaC, l slashed my
wrist freely all round the injured part
with my pocket knife, particularly prob
ing the puuctures made by the serpent s
fangs, and as the blood spurted freely
from the wound | sucked it with the
! vigor and desperation of man who
knows that delay of only Il quarter of d
minute in eliminating the virus from his
| sytsem may seal his doom.
| noticed with horror that my arm was
swelling rapidly. and began to expert.
ence a difficulty in respiration, which
knew was a most unfavorable symptom.
| Some powerful eNcitant was necessary
Immediately TO cUuntcract the effect OF
the poison, yet it seemed rs though Ncera-
pen would never bring the brandy, and !
! called wildly 10 him 10 come to me lie
rau into the room with bottle of the
| precious liquor in his hand, but in the
confusion he could not find a corkscrew,
and he was too much daZed and terrified
by my misfortune To think OF the ready
. eNpedient of knocking off the neck of the
bottle. However, | soon sent it flying,
and pouring out half Il tumbler of brandy,
! drank it at gulp.
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