The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-06-13
FOR SNAKE POISON.
DISCOVERY THAT STRYCHNlNE NEU-
TRALIzES THE VENOM.

Facts Recently Demonstrated Concerning
the Bite of Deadly Rcptiles-The Fisher
man Need No Longer Incumber Him
self with u Loaded Flask.
The deadly fluid sccretcd by certain spe-
Giles of snakes was made subject of study
from very early date, but the old tlrno
investigators knew not how to solve tho
Intricate problems of organic chemistry.
All that they accomplished was to create n
prodigious number of antidotes, so called,
most Of which in their turn were declared
infallible. Not one of them was worth a
penny.
Tho most notable work In this line
within recent years has been performed by
DR.. Weir Mitchell OF Philadelphia, who,
for tho sake Of obtaining sufficient guam
titles of the poison, has sometimes kept rs
many as 100 serpents in his laboratory. His
method Of securing tho venom for oxami-
nation was to seize the snake by tho neck
with tongs, forcing saucer between the
jaws. Tho cnragcd animal would then bite
into tho saucer, on which the poison emit
ted was left.
The substance thus obtained Is yellow
ish, transparent sticky fluid, without
smell or taste, easily dissolved In water.
When dried, it will retain Its toxic proper
ties for any longth of time apparently.
looking like gum or varnish, and it has
been preserved for % years without alter
ing in tho least. On this ground it is adj
visablo to handle with caution even the
dried fangs OF snakes long dead. Boiling,
unless continued for u long time docs not
render the fluid harmless.
Alcohol has long held the first place In
NJ NJ INIT 1nt for L.
poison. In truth, it Is not such at all,
though useful to sustain the vitality of the
person bitten against the attack made
upon it by the toxic agent. 1t stimulates
the nerve centers and tho action Of the
heart If taken in small doses. But the
mistake ordinarily made is to pour into
tho patient large quantities Of whisky, tho
effect Of which Is exactly tho opposite of
that required. In such great doses alcohol
dcpresscs instead of stimulates the vital
functions. Intoxication, far from helping
the cure, aids tho poison And by the
way, people have often died from snake
bite who were bitten when dead drunk.
With the newly discovered antidote the
case is exactly opposite. Danger is far
moro likely to result from hesitation in
using it literally than from an overdose.
Strychnine, itself poison scarcely less
terrible than snake venom, acts directly
upon the nerves, stimulating and turning
on their batteries, which the snake poison
seeks to deprcss and turn off. Acting with
the uncrriDg certainty of u chemical test,
ib neutralizes tho effect Of the serpent
venom. But 1t must be administered in
extraordinary quantities, even to the point
of producing spasmodic twitchings of tic
muscles
In fact the ordinary doses must be
greatly exceeded, and tho administration
of tho strychnino must be continued, ever
If the total quantity injected within an
hour or two amounts to what in the alb
scnce of snake poison would be danger
ous If not fatal dose. Tho few failures
among tho numerous successes with tho
drug thus far recorded have nearly all been
traceablo to an insufllciency of the anti
dotc. In urgent cases as much as 90 to 25
minims should be given to any person over
10 years OF age. If at the end of 60 min
utcs the symptoms show no abatement, q
second injection of tho samo strength
Should be made promptly, and unless then
a decided improvement Is perccptiblc a
third one, after q like interval Tho action
of tho drug when applied rs an antidotc is
not cumulative. The tendency to relapse
Is always great where much venom has
been absorbed.
Apparently yielding to the strychnine
for time, tho insidious poison, after an
interval during which it seems to have
been conquered, all at onco rcasserts its
presence and has TO bo met by fresh mice
tions, regardless of tho quantity previous
ly administered. With children the amount
of the remedy to be given must not be
judged by the age of the child, but by the
amount Of venom to be counteractcd, the
degree of danger chiefly depending upon
the size of the snake The bigger the rep
tile OF course the moro poison 1t has Fur
thcrmore it is to be remembered that Of
all American serpcnts the rattlcsnake Is
the most dangerous, the copperlieud less
SO and the water moccasin least.
In case of snake bite tho first thing to
be done is to tie n string or q handkerchief
as tightly as possible between tho wound
and the heart, whenever practicable Next,
cut deeply into tho puncturcs made by the
fangs, so as to cause the blood to flow free
~ Suck the blood from tho wound-a
proceeding perfectly harmless, inasmuch
as the poison does no harm when taken in
ternally. Then carefully loosen the liga-
ture so as to admit n small quantity Of
fresh blood to the member, in order that
modification may not cnsue, Small doses
of whisky may now be given at frequent
intervals. 1t the patient has to wait for
the arrival of n DOCTOR this is the time to
try all means to produce profuse perspira-
ton. The physician will administer ex-
tract of jaborandi for n sudorfic and diu-
rctic, and will administer hypodcrmic in
jections of 15to 90 minims of liquid strych-
mia, repeated every 20 minutes until slight
spasms appear
All of these facts and suggestions are
summed up in q paper published by the
National museum in Its annual report
1t Is from the pen of the famous ophidian
aXDprt DR. PODnrl StniDnoor Tho NJ,