The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-05-30
FOR SNAKE POISON.
DISCOVERY THAT STRYCHNlNE NEU,
TRALlzES THs VENOM.

Facts Recently Demonstrated Concerning
the Bito of Deadly I;cptiles-The Fisher
IMAM Need No Longer Incumbcr Him.
self With II Loaded Flask.
The deadly fluid sccrctcd by certain spc-
cies of snakes was made u subject OF study
from very early date, but tho old tine
Investigators knew not how to solvo tho
intricate problems of organic chemistry.
All that they accomplished was to crcate q
prodigious number of antidotes, SO called
most of which in their turn werc declared
infallible. Not ono 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 tho poison, has sometimes kept rs
many us 100 scrpcnts in his laboratory His
method of securing the venom for oxnIri-
nation was to seize tho snake by tho mock
with tongs, forcing saucer between the
jaws. The cnr,igcd animal would then bite
Into tho saucer, on which the poison emit
ted was left
The substance thus obtained Is a yellow
ish, transparent, sticky fluid without
smell or taste, easily dissolved in water.
When dried, it will retain It's toxic proper
ties for any longth of timc apparently,
looking like gum or varnish, and 1t has
been preserved for 90 years without alter
ing i'll tho least. On this ground It Is ad-
visible to handle with caution oven tho
dried fangs Of snakes long dead. Boiling,
unless continued for n long time, does not
render the fluid harmless.
Alcohol has long held the first place in
popular esteem us an antidotc for snake
poison In truth, it is not such mt all,
though useful to sustain the vitality of tho
person bitten against tho attack made
upon it by tho toxic agent 1t stimulates
the ncrvc ccntcrs and tho action of the
heart, If taken in small doses. But the
mistake ordinarily made is to pour into
the patient large quantities of whisky, tho
effect of which is exactly tho opposite of
that required. In such great doses alcohol
dcprcsscs instead of stimulates the vital
functions IntoXic;ltion, far from helping
the cure, aids the poison And, by tho
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.
Strychninc, itself poison scarcely lcss
terrible than snake venom, acts directly
upon the nerves, stimulating and turning
on their batteries, which the snake poison
s'oks TO dcprcss and turn off Acting with.
the uncrring certainty of n chemical test,
iu ncutraizcs the effect of the serpent
venom. But it must be administered in
extraordinary quantities, even to the point
of producing spasmodic twitchings of tie
muscles
III fact, tho ordinary doses must be
greatly exceeded, and the administration
of the strychninC must he continued, ever
If the total quantity injected within an
hour or two amounts to what in the Obj
scncc of snake poison would bc danger
Gus if not fatal dose. Tho few failures
among the numerous successes with the
drug thus far recorded have nearly all been
t17iccablc to an insu1llcicncy of the anti
dotc. In urgent cases as much MS 20 to %
nlinimS should be given TO any person over
Is years of age. If at the end OF 90 min
utns the symptoms show no abatement, a
second Injection of the same strength
should he made promptly, and unless then
decided improvement Is pcrccptible u
third one after IA like interval. The action
OF the drug WHEN applied rs an antitlotc Is
not cumulative. The tendency To relapse
Is always great where much venom has
boon absorbed.
Apparently yielding to the strychnino
III % tIt lDNlulOtlS poison, nttGr
interval during which it seems To have
been conquered, all Mt once rcasscrts its
presence and has To Ike met by fresh mice
uons, regardless of the quantity previous
ly administered. With children the amount
OF the remedy to he given must not be
Judged by the age of the child. but by the
amount of venom 10 be countcrnctcd the
degree of danger chiefly depending upon
the size of the snake The bigger the rep
tile of course the more poison it has Fur
thcrmorc, it is to be remembered that of
all American scrpcnts the rattlesnake Is
the most dangerous, the copperlleud less
30 and the water moccasin least
In case of snake bite, the first thing to
be done is to tic n string or a handkerchief
as tightly as possible between tho wound
and the heart whenever practicable Next,
cut deeply into the puncturcs made by the
fangs, so as to cause the blood to flow free
ly. Suck the blood from the wound-a
proceeding perfectly harmless, inasmuch
rs the poison does no harm when taken in
ternally. Then carefully loosen tho liga-
turc so as to admit n small quantity Of
fresh blood to the member, in order that
modification may not cnsuc, Small doses
of whisky may now he given at frequent
intervals. If the patient has to wait for
the arrival of II doctor, this is the time to
try all means to produce profusc pcrspira-
ton. The physician will administer cx-
tract of jaborandi for n sudoritic and diu-
rctic, and will adm mister hypodcrmic in
lcctions of 10 10 20 minims of liquid strych-
MIA, repeated every 20 minutes until slight
spasms appear
All of these facts and suggestions arc
summed up in paper published by the
National museum in its annual report.
1t is from the pen of the famous ophidian