Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-03-01
DR.. KELLY'S SNAKE BITE.
He is Not Believer in Whisky as an
Antidote

DIR. Howard A. Kelly of the Johns
Hopkins hospital. Baltimore, who was
bitten by a rattlesnake Monday night
while showing some of his poisonous
pets to the Johns Hopkins medical So
ciety, suffered no inconvenience or bad
results from the wound yesterday. He
is convinced that none of the snakes
venom entered his system.
The doctor was attending to his pro-
fessional duties yesterday as if moth
ing unusual had happened to him, and
answered with a laugh when some OF
his inquiring friends were anxious
about his snake bite. The RATHER,
which was large-sized one of the
diamond-black variety, punctured DR..
kelly's third finger on his right hand
with its fang. There was no doubt
that the fang made a deep puncture,
but there was no evidence of redness
about the wound after it had struck.
The act of biting is accomplished in
TWO movements by the snake; first, the
striking, by which the fang is inserted
into the flesh, and second movement
which congresses the poison sac and
eJects the venom. DR.. Kelly says he
felt no more pain than if he had been
prlcked with good-sized pin Real
izing instantly what it meant, he drew
away his hand. He is naturally quick
of movement, and in addition says he
is always looking out for such acct
dents while handling his snakes.
Another thing in DR.. Kellys favor
was the fact that his snake had struck
at him while he was putting it in
bag at his home to take it to the hos
pital for the demonstration. 1t has
been found by experiments that a
poisonous snake will empty its venom
sac when it strikes, and that it re-
quires considerable time for the poison
to be secreted and the sac to be again
filled. Repeated bites are found to be
successfully less and less poisonous. 1t
is possible that this snake expended
all It's poison when it first struck at DR..
Kelly so that it's bite lacked virulence
when it was finally inflicted.
DIR. Kelly took no precautions after
being bitten other than to evacuate
the wound by sucking and by suueez-
ing 1T. He took no antidote or counter
poison. The doctor has positive ideas
about the use of whisky as an antidote
for snake poison. He says that he is
firmly convinced that more persons
who die after being bitten by poison
Gus snakes are killed by the whisky
they drink than by the snake poison.
1t is a common notion that it is i'm
possible for person to get drunk who
mas been bitten by a snake. Acting on
that theory, pint, and III some cases
a quart, of whisky has been given as
an antidote. DR.. Kelly says that the
whisky is poison, and taken in such
quantities would produce death any
way without the snake bite
That the imagination can have no Sc
rious effect upon persons bitten by
snakes is DR.. Kelly's opinion. AL
though fright may ensue, he says this
could not in itself cause deI~taricus
efects unless the snake venom actually
gets into the system of the bitten per-
son. =
One result of DR.. ,Kelly's snake bite
Will be the killing of all his poisonous
snakes. They will be photographed
today and then carefully killed and
their bodies preserved in alcohol.
DR.. Kelly takes this measure lor fear
of danger to some member Of his fam
lily in his home, where he keeps the
snakes in boxes His harmless snakes
will be kept alive as pets, but when he
wants to make a further study OF the
poisonous varieties he will secure a
new supply, probably next summer.
when his children are not in the house
to run into danger.