Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1886-12-03
A GOOD THRASHING.

poor neallH, HoI ine'iiiHS W
ton to express contentment with their
condition, but the contrary. When /,
however, tell you that once had ajolly
good thrashing, there is special inten-
tion in every word of the phrase. The
castigation was jolly, because | thor
oughly relished every blow as it fell on
my body; and it was good, because IL
saved my life. The circumstances in
which | took this unusual form of graf
ification were as follows:
| was living at Trmurtigherry. where
[ had small cotton cleaning and press
ing factory. The cotton grown from in
digenous seed in that district has but
poor staple, and, in fact, is a crop only
cultivated on soils which are considered
too poor for cereals. This inferiority of
quality naturally deferred shippers from
placing orders freely with me-; and in
the hope of demonstrating 10 the ryots
the advantage of paying more attention
to the industry, procured variety Of
seed from America, and formed small
model plantation near my bungalow.
succeeded very well, and as the balls
ripencd used carefully to gather them
myself, in order to keep the different
kinds distinct, and to test the yield.
was engaged one morning in this
manner, ard was in the act of plucking
some pods off tree, when felt sharp
bite on my right wrist. At'he same in
stant saw snake drop 10 the ground
and writhe rapidly away. | noticed
bright yellow line on each side of the
upper surface Of the reptiles head con
vergent on the snout, and feared, only
too Justly, that had been bitten by
tic-polonga, the ''dOboia Russellii," one
of the most common OF venomous snakes.
If any thing were needed to confirm my
misgivings, it was supplied by glance
at my injured wrist. A look was sufli-
cient, and | instantly knew that the
wound had been inflicted by a poisonous
serpent.
There is an unmistakable indication
of the nature of snake bites, the non
poisonous being marked by the teeth of
whereas poison
.he animal thus: onous ones are
distin guished
by two punctures in this manner ~.
The two fatal marks where the crea-
ture's fangs had pierced my skin were
only too plainly visible.
AT least my destroyer shall not
escape" thought, and springing for
ward crushed the snake, which proved
to be Il tic-polonga, under my heel, jnst
as it was reachinga creyiee in the earth,
where it would have been safe.
Revenge was certainly my primary
impulse in killing the reptile, but had
secondary object, which was 10 ascer-
tain its age and size, as the consequences
attendant upon poisonous snake bite
are materially affected thereby. The
tc-polonga attains length of fifty-fve
inches, and death generally superyenes
on the bite of full-grown specimen,
especially if the wounded part happens
to be one of the extremities, such as II
finger or toe, which can be fairly seized
between the animals jaws.
The venom is in that case injected
deeply into the flesh, and comningling
at once with the blood, is rapidly diff
fused through the veins and arteries,
and reaching the heart, paraIyzes the
action OF that organ. But if the part
attacked presents wider surface, so
that the epidermis may perhaps only be
abraded and the subcuticle remain un-
pierced, the chances of remedial meas
ures proving efficacious are greatly in-
creased, while the consequences Of any
wound inflicted by ''babota' of not
more than twenty or twenty-fou inches
may generally be counteracted.
The degree of danger from snake-bite
also depends considerably OH several
other considerations, such as the health
of the patient; whether the snake had
recently made meal or bitten any other
object, in which case it will have ex-
hausted its poison glands; and, finally,
the time OF day, as in the early morning,
when the air is raw and chilly, a snake
is languid, and will strike with .compar-
atively little energy, whereas during
the heat Of the day it is active and gem
orally fierce.
The circumstances Of my case seemed
decidedly against me. The tic-polonga
I had killed was at least thirty inches
long, and therefore capable Of inficting
a mortal wound; it was fasting, and It's
poison glands must consequently have
been fully charged at the moment il biz
melt was after o'clock. and very
hot day, and the bite on my wrist was
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
tainly be dead in ,hree-quarters Of an
hour at the longest.
There was no surgeon or apothecary