Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1903-03-16

i
| limbs, feeling that fate has sum-
moned them in case they are victims
OF poisonous snakes. Twenty thOus-
and people are killed every year in
India in this way without effort being
expended to cOunteracC the poison in
most cases.
No real antidOJe mas been found for
the poison OF the most venOmOus
snakes. If the fang is sunk into
tissues well supplied with blood YES
sells. or if it penetrate a vein or an
artery, the poison goes at once into
the circulation.
As a first remedy, sucking the
wound is the accepted best thing.
Strong suction, applied directly 10 the
wound, removes the greater part OI
the poison. If one of the extremities
is bitten, ligature twisted tightly
around the limb between the bite and
the heart, followed by cupping and
cauteriZinI is good. Vhiskey in
large quantity also is prescribed, as
the alcohol stimulates the heart AMI
prevents the paralysis of that organ
which the poisoned blood tends to
produce.
The size of a snake, its general
condition, the fact whether or not il
has recently bitten an animal, or even
whether or not it be exceedingly
angry, have their effects on the
sacks full of secreted poison has been
found to be much more dangerous
than is one which recently has struck
some other creature. Necessarily a
young snake cannot be as venomous
as an old one that has attained its
growth.
Professor George E. Boyer of
Tulane university in Louisiana has
made some interesting experiments
with the bite of snakes.
His first experiment was with a
cOpperhead less than a week old. He
leased the little creature and received
its bite on the hand. The sensation
was almost exactly the same as that
which follows the sting of a honey
bee. The pain gradually diminished
and died away, leaving no after
effects.
On Aug. 4, following, Professor Boyer
followed this with an experiment
with a ground rattlesnake only days !
old. The reptiles had been born in J
captivity, six of them five and one |
half inches long and a quarter of an 4
inch thick. The professor chose one I
of these, leased it until it was angry /
and cOiled, and then presented the i
first joint of the little finger 10 re- |
ceive the sting.
The snake struck like lightning. |
Again the sensation was that of a !
bee sting, but for only a moment !
Soon a sharp, shooting pain ran to |
the elbow, and another and another
until they reached the shoulder. The !
bitten finger began to swell and be-
come discolored, then numbness ,
came, followed by stiH harder pains. |
Ia one hour Professor Boyer could |
not lift his arm TO a level with his |
shoulder.
At the end of two hours the |
symptoms that had been manifested |
only in the arm became systemic !
He experienced a sense of general |
oppression and vertigo. All the while |
the pain increased steadily.
At II o'clock Professor Boyer !
went to bed, only to pass a sleepless |
night. At 2 o'clock in the morning |
his temperature had reached 103 de !
grees. At daylight he found that the |
swelling from the arm had extended |
al down the right side and up the |
side of his neck and face. His little |
finger was double its natural size, |
while the wound showed two inky |
dots where the fangs had penetrated. !
His whole hand and arm were dis /
tended and hot and painful.
At 10 o'clock the next day, nearly |
twenty-four hours after the finger |
was bitten, the mans temperature !
was 100. About that time. however, !
the reaction set in. For nearly two |
days afterward, however, pressure of |
the arm would cause intense pain, |
and for several days more the patient /
felt uncomfortable and oppressed. |
No supuration followed the bite, and /
mo remedy of any kind was used.