The National tribune., 1889-12-19


which cases the effect would resemble that of
direct incubation by bite of the venomous
reptile. There are dozens of species of birds and
animals that make carriOn their favorile food,
and even certain tribes of savages relish meat
in state of far-gone decomposition; yet, if
applied to an open sore, drop of the fluid Of
decomposng animal substance may act as q
swift and almost incurabe virus.
POISONED WOUNDS.
Tho virus of decomposition, and even the
vitiated humors of living body, may become
tho cause of extremely dangerous inAamms
tious, and sores on the hands Cor on the feet Of
barefoot chidren) are especially apt to become
the media of such infections. Butchers, in cut
ting up meat that has been kept day or two
after the death Of the animal, or physicians in
dissecting corpse, thus often become the VIC
Tins of blood poisoning, in consequence of an
almost imperceptible scratch on their hands or
fingers. | remember the case of little boy of
eight or nine years, who was brought to a city
hospital In q condition of complete holplessness.
his left leg being fcarfully swollen from the
foot to the knee, while his pulse indicated q
violent fever, all of which symptoms his par
ents seemed unable to explain. The trouble
had started from little sore on the edge Of his
foot, they said, apparently mere scratch,
which had never prevented the patient from
running about as usual, till one evening he
complained of q throbbing pain, which gradu-
soon found to DO accompanied by u severe in
| fiammation. The little fellow himself could
not account for his trouble, but cross-examina-
| ton revealed the fact that the day before
his foot first became painful he had been play
| ing about on dump heap" and had amused
| himself with using the carcass OF dead puppy
as a football ti& the skin OF the animal came off
| aud made his corpse rather too uninviting for
| an object OF sport. "a never kicked him in
| the jaw; only in the rump, and that cannot
have hurt me-" insisted the boy apparently
unable to realize the fact that the mere touch
| Of n fostering carcass could have caused any
mischief. In Spanish-America the hoodlums
of the larger cities often celebrate carnival by
all sorts of practical Jokes, which, according TO
a hereditary custom, are tolerated for that one
night in the year as long as they do not result
| in positive injury TO life or limb. Volleys Of
| peas, propelled from unseen blow-guns, fly
| about in every direction, showers Of sand and
| fine gravel descend from unknown attics, jets
OF cologne squirted into the face of a passer-
by from windows and doors ajar, while decid-
| eddy less fragrant fluids aud solids are dis
charged into tho midst of q surgiug crowd.
Echdte otra rs<-hit him again - is the only
comment of tho mob If victim OF such mis-
siles should attempt To resent the otlense in any
way but by tho preparation OF similar jokes.
Well aware OF that fact, an American music
teacher in the city of Lniz Potosi said not a
straight in the ear aud discharged its contents
down her neck and arm. But on her return to
her lodgings she tore of her dress with haste
that caused pin TO rip along her arm from the
elbow to the wrist, causing ugly scratch
which under other circumstances would per-
haps have been bandaged, but which in the ex-
element OF tho moment was almost forgotten.
After "A warm bath and change of dress the lady
went To bed, half inclined TO laugh away her
momentary Indignation, but on awakening the
next morning she found that the pin scratch
had begun To tester. and before night her arm
became swollen in way which happily induced
her TO call in medical assistance without loss of
time. The scratch had moro than penetrated
the skin of the same that had been
drenchcd with that explosion of nauseous
fluids, portion of which had probably been
brought in direct contact with tho Iacerated
tissue
Carnivorous animals can in1ict such danger
Gus wounds by mere touch of their claws that
many persons have come TO consider the scratch
OF even a finger nail more dangerous than the
cash OF dagger; but the real explanation Is
probably the circumstance that fragments OF
putrid meat are apt to adhere to the iangs of
flesh-eatiDg brute and To enter wound in much
the Same way as the virus of n serpent-bite.
Sharp close set teeth arc naturally more liable
To retain traces of decomposing food than large
projecting canine tusks; hence perhaps. the
fact that the bite OF IA cat is more apt To tester
than that OF dog.
VIRULENT BITES.
There is no doubt, however, that under the
influence of rage the saliva OF almost any ami
mai may become venomous and long continued
torture seems 10 produce II similar effect even
without any direct provocaton. Only n few
weeks ago Georgia newspaper mentioned the
case OF u hunter who lost his dog. and after a
fruitless search of several days heard his bowls
high up insthe rocks of neighboring mount
ain-range and found him in fox trap that
had caught his foreleg close to the body The
process of extricati0n must have caused the dog
an agony of pain, which for moment overcame
every other instinct for he bit the hand of his
master, whose life IL week after could be saved
only by tho amputaton of his arm. medical
friend of mine who had served AS a military
Surgeon during the last Turk ish Russian war
often mentions the experience of n Moscovite
hospital attendant whose log had been lacerated
by the teeth OF dying Bash- Bazouk, or Turk
ish bushwhacker. lie had accompanied an
ambulance-tran TO tho scene of a recent Skin
mlsh and was trying To extrcato wounded
man from a fallen ammunition wagon when the
supposed corpse of Turkish bravo suddenly
rose on his knees and attacked the minister OF
mercy with the rage of baited wolf. A pistol
shot promptly avenged the outrage, and the
bitten man was almost sorry for the fate of his
aggressor, but concluded that the act of retri-
button had, after all, been rather justified,
when few days after his leg began To swell in
way that deiied all antiseptics and could be
remeded only by an operation that made him
cripple for the rest of the year. The prompt
application of oil or vaseline Cor, indeed, of any
unsaited fat) generally sutlices to nip the mis-
chief in the bud and seems to destroy the
vitality of the disease germs, much on the same
principal that itch and similar skin. diseases
can be cured by the application of oily salves-
often without any admixture of sulphur or
mercury. If there is cause to fear the infection
of the deeper tissues the wound should, now