The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1910-09-30
TREATMENT
FOR SNAKE BITE
Tie Up Wound Above and
Suck Out Poison.
Few Venomous, Rattlers, vipers,
Cottonmoouth and Moccasin
The Most Prevalent.


diately possesses himself of a stout
club and proceeds to maui the unof-
rending reptile into the earth with
out troubling his mind to find IL the
snake is harmless or otherwise. This
Is wrong for when one comes to
know them serpents are quite inter-
esing. 1t is wrong, too, for with a
little study the ordinary man can
familiarize himself with the charac-
teristic markings of the venomous SER
penis and differentiate them from
those that are non-venomous.
All the deadly snakes with the ex-
ception of the little harlequin snake
of the extreme South, are similar
marked and all belong to the class of
pit" vipers, characterized by a de-
preston Oh pit" back of the nostril
The head is triangular, with massive
muscular development Of the jaw; the
neck slender in proportion to the
size of the head and body. The body
itself is quite thick, the skin rough,
The pupil of the eye is elliptical in
stead of being round as in the nom
venomous snakes.
The harmless varieties on the other
hand are long and slender the skin
smooth and shining the head oval or
round. II in doubt after the above,
the investigator can pin his subject
to the ground with a forked stick
place just back of the head and examine
the teeth. If he finds hanging from
the upper jaw or inclined forward from
1t two fangs, long and sharp as need
les he can be pretty safe in assum-
ing that his subject is poisonous. The
non-venomous snakes have a dem
tltion very much the same as some
of the smaller rodents, the mice for
instance.
While rattlesnakes are dangerous,
their bite is not nearly so fatal as
is popularity supposed. This fact has
at least two important Reasons, viz,
season and the habits of life of the
snake. In the extreme South and in
midsummer the venom attains It's
highest state of virulence. Then the
person fairly struck by large RATHER
is in extreme danger, provided the
second factor in the equation does not
intrude that is the habits of life.
All venomous snakes and more es-
pecially rattlesnakes are sluggish
They do not move rapidly or over
great distances. Their lethal power
Is given them as a means of procur-
ing food and when once the snake
strikes he expends practically all the
ammunition in his arsenal. II requi-
res hours and perhaps days to Renew
the supply during which time the SER
pent Is defenseless. Should the huma
victim happen along at such time and
be bitten it Is quite probable that he
would not receive a fatal dose of the
poison.
The manner in which the rattle
snake inflicts his wound is worthy of
some study. In the first place, II
may be assumed as automatic that
he snake cannot strike farther than
his own length, and seldom even that
Stories of rattlesnakes lifting them
selves from the ground bodily and
lurling themselves through the air
are purely imaginative. Nor can the
snake strike unless coiled 1t does
not follow that he must be in COM
)lete coil, but he must have at least
/ few kinks In his spine before he |
AN deliver blow then he can only |
strike the length of the kinks.
Still people are bitten and the 10 |
alton of the wound has much to do
With the chances of recovery. About
20 per cent. Of all persons wounded
ire struck on the lower limbs, IS on
he hands or arm and 5 on the trunk
Il face. OF these, wounds on the low
IT limbs are the least dangerous and
hose on the trunk or face being near
arge nerve and artsrial vessels, most
%. The more remote from the gen.
raj circulation the less danger from
he would.
The treatment of a rattlesnake
wound resolves itself into the apph-
alton of a few very simple rules.
n the first place. person wounded
y a snake usually does the very
hing he should not do-that Is. goes
caring off at top speed for the near
st human habitation. thereby in
reasing the circulation and dissem- I
mating the virus through the sys-
am more rapidly. The man should
It calmly down and bind his hand
erchief around the limb III it is