Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-23
A FIGHT FOR LIFE.
A Man Who Enjoyed a
Thrashing.
A VERY GOOD SNAKE STORY
The Deadly Tic-pOlOnga-The Poi
son at Work-Anguish of the
Victim-A Novel Remedy.

Many people are in the habit of assur-
ing their friends that they "enJoy very
poor health" not meaning by this asser-
ton to express contentment with their
conditi-n, but the contrary. When 1,
however, tell you that once had a jolly
good thrashing, there is a special inten.
ton in every word of the phrase. The
sastigation was jolly, because l thor
oughly relished every blow as it fell on
my body; and it was good because it
saved my life. The circumstances in
which I took this very unusual form of
qualification were as follows;
l was living at Trimurtig where
I had small cotton cleaning and press
ing factory. The cotton grown from
indigenous seed in that district has but
poor staple, and in fact, is 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
advantage of paying more attention to
the industry procured a variety of seed
from America and formed a small model
plantation near my bungalow.
1t succeeded very well, and as the
balls ripened l used carefully to gather
them myself in order to keep the differ.
.ent kinds distinct and to test the yield.
l was eng ,ged one morning in this
manner, and was in the act of plucking
some pods off tree when I felt sharp
bite on my right wrist. At the same
instant saw snake fall to the ground
and writhe rapidly away. l noticed a
bright yellow line ON each side of the
upper surface of the reptiles head con.
vergent on the snout, and l feared, only
too Justly, that had been bitten by q
tio.polonga, the dabola Russelli, one of
the most common of venomous snakes.
If anything were wanted to confirm my
misgivings is was supplied by glance
al my injured wrist. A look was sutfi-
cient, and l instantly knew that the
wound had been inflicted by poisonous
serpent.
There is an unmstakable indication of
the nature of snake bites, the non poi
sonous being marked by the teeth of the
reptile, whereas poisonous ones are dis.
tinguished by only two punciures. The
two fatal marks where tho creatures
fangs had pierced my skin were only too
plainly visible.
"At least my destroyer shalt not es.
cape, and springiDg forward, l crushed
the snake, which proved to be a tic pol.
onga, under the heel, just as it was reach
ing crevice 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 to ascer.
tain his age aud size, as the consequences
attendant on poisonous snake bite are
materially affected thereby. The tic.
polonga attains the length OF fifty inches
and death generally rapidly superyenes
on the bite of a fill-grown specimen, es.
peclally if the wounded part be one of
the extremities, such as finger or a
toe, which can be fairly seized between
the reptiles jaws. The venom is in that
case injected deeply into the flesh, and
commingling at once with the blood is
rapidly dffused through the veins and
arteries, and reaching the heart, paraly.
zes that organ. But if the part attacked
present wider surface, so that the ep.
idermis may perhaps only be abraded
and the subcuticle remain unpierced, the
chances of remedial measures proving
ef1icacious, are greatly increased, while
the consequences of any wound inflicted
by dabola of not more than twenty or
twenty.four inches may generally 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 re.
Gently 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, snake
is languid and will strike with compare
lively 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 polonga
had killed was at least thirty inches in
length, and therefore capable of infict.
ing mortal wound; it was fasting, and
its poison glands must consequently
have been fully charged at the moment
it bit met was after 9 o'clock, and
very hot hay, 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 situa-
tion, and was aware that unless some
remedies were applied Immediately l
should certainly be dead in three quar-.
ters of 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 a
ryot being treated for snake bite by
remedies | proposed to apply to myself
only l remembered with melancholy
interest that the unfortunate Hindoo
had died. notwithstanding the unremit
ting exertion made to save his life.
The treatment for snake bites is liga-
ture of the limb above the wound, free
incision, sucking, cauterization, bathing
the wound with ammonia, and also the
taking of brandy or ammonia internally.
Remembering these several directions,
rushed into the bungalow and made a
very efficient tourniquet with a walking
stick and wet towel, which i passed
around my forearm, effectually stopping
the circulation. l also summoned my
boy Veerapen to my assistance, and as
had no ammonia in the house ordered
him to open bottle of brandy with all
speed. While Veerapen was getting the
cognac | slashed my wrist freely all
around the injured part with my pocket
knife, particularly probing the punctures
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 knew that delay of only
aquarter of a minute in eliminating the
virus from his system may seal his doom.
/ noticed with horror that nv arm
was swelling rapidly, and 1 began to ex-
perience difficulty in respiration.