June t, 1885.] 



^fTfir~tROPICAl"AG^f CttLTtJSlSf. 



883 



what in a more modern structure would be known as 

 the mantle, my eyes fell upon two very interesting 

 objects. The first was a set of rattles, which numbered 

 fifteen ; the second was the dried skin of an 

 enormous copperhead. Of course, I asked the old man 

 to tell me all about it, and he very willingly un- 

 bosomed himself. He said that in the fall of 1S77 he 

 was hunting deer, and was creeping through the bushes 

 endeavoring to flank a large buck when, without any 

 other warning than the usual rattle, a rattlesnake one 

 of the- largest of its species, sprang upon him, sink- 

 ing its fangs deep into his leg. Quick as thought 

 he killed it with his hunting knife, bound tightly 

 the limb above and below the wound and made hasty 

 tracks for his cabin. Arriving there, he applied the 

 whisky and sassafras root in the manner previously 

 described, and in about ten days he had recovered. 



On another occasion he was out trapping, when he 

 was attacked by a copperhead, which bit him in the big 

 toe of his left foot. This bite was treated to the same 

 dose and in the same manner, and speedy recovery 

 followed, while the skin and rattles were kept as 

 trophies of his two snake adventureB. 



I also know a woman who was bitten in the foot 

 while at the spring getting water, and who after 

 using the remedy, recovered fully and in a very short 

 space of time. — C. A. R. 



In her book "Snakes, Curiosities and Wonders of 

 Serpent Life," Miss Catharine C. Hopley writes on 

 the subject of " The Venoms and their remedies," 

 as follows : — 



"To conceive of an antidote to snake poison in 

 the true sense of the term," Sir John Fayrer 

 explains, " one must imagine a substance so subtle 

 as to follow, overtake and neutralize the venom in 

 the blood ; ouo that shall have the power of counter- 

 acting and neutralizing the deadly influence it has 

 exerted on the vital forces. Such a substance has still 

 to be found, and our present experience of the action 

 of drugs does not lead to hopeful anticipation that 

 we shall find it." 



With regard to the many drugs used in various 

 couutries for the cure of snake bite, it is curious 

 to note that, as a rule, they are procured from the 

 most deadly plants. As like cures like, so poison 

 cures poison. Pennyroyal, says Charas, was held to 

 the nose of a viper, who, by turning and wriggling, 

 labored hard to avoid it, and in half-au-hour's 

 time was killed by it. This was in July, at which 

 season these creatures are computed to be in the great- 

 est vigor of their poison. 



Another diug which is poison to a venomous snake 

 is tobacco, within the reach of most persons. This, 

 among native remedies, has always been in favor, 

 and vie have heard of its efficacy ever since the weed 

 was known to Europeans. 



Strychnine appears to have a similar effect to to- 

 bacco on snakes. Fayrer found cobras extremely sus- 

 ceptible to the influence of strychnine. An almost 

 impalpable quantity caused a cobra to twist itself up 

 in a rigid series ot coils and die. Caibolio acid is 

 another drug which produces powerful effects, foured 

 on the floor of their cages it will kill venomous snake? 

 in a very short time. A large Bungarus died in ten 

 minutes in this way. 



Dr. Weir Mitchell approves of carbolic acid. The 

 Lancet recommends every backwoodsman to supply 

 himself with a little of it, which is easily portable 

 and manageable in capillary tubes. In several of 

 Mitchell's experiments with crotalus venom, carbolic 

 acid applied to the wound was attended with suc- 

 cess. But it must be done at once. 



The whole secret of cures when cures can be effected 

 at all, lies in promptness. It is celerity on the part 

 of the Indian.-* which insures their success. In an 

 instant, if his couuado be bitten, the savage is uu 



his kueeg sucking the wound, grasping the limb 

 firmly or strapping it tightly above and below tho 

 bite, knowing cpiite well the importance of checking 

 the circulation. He has his "poison pills," and to- 

 bacco in his pouch. He explodes gunpowder on tho 

 wound and loses not an instant, nor does tho victim 

 lose heart. He submits with courage and confidence, 

 and in these lies another element of success. 



Many cases are on record of persons being at death's 

 door through fear alone, when bitten by a harmless 

 snake, but recovering on being assured that there 

 was no danger. And other cases are well known 

 where bitten persons have dieel of fright and the 

 depressing influence surrounding the accident, when 

 they might posdbly have recovered. 



And now for a few words about the most popular 

 and perhaps the most attainable of all remedies — 

 alcohol. No wonder that the backwoodsman resorts 

 to this, which without any chopping-off of fingers 

 or toes, or personal pyrotechnics, or other local tort- 

 ures, deadens his sensibilities, renders him unconsci- 

 ous of all suffering, and senels him into a happy ob- 

 liviousness of danger. It is not a refined mode of 

 treatment, nor one that presents many opportunities 

 of exhibiting professional skill ; and it is no doubt 

 somewhat derogatory to admit that to become dead 

 druuk is an effective victory against snake venom. 

 During a sojourn in Iowa some years ago, when 

 wild and unclcaned lands formed the "streets" of 

 the town in which I was staying — Lyons, on th« 

 Mississippi river, and as lovely a spot -as artists and 

 botanists can wish to revel in — it was by no means 

 an infrequent occurrence to hear of rattlesnake bites. 



" What was to be done to the man ? Is he alive V " 

 were questions naturally asked. 



" He drank a quart of raw whisky and got dead 

 drunk." 



Generally a quart had the desired effect, that is, 

 of causing intoxication. Persons unused to intoxic- 

 ants might be affected by a less ipjautity, but so 

 violent is the combat between venom and whisky 

 that a large dose must be allowed before any effects 

 at all are produced. I heard of a man in Nevada, 

 George Terhune, a teamster (I give his name, having 

 reason to believe the truth of the story) who was 

 bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake while, stooping to 

 reach some water out of a spring. The man was 

 alone and far away for human habitations. It 

 was an instinctive and momentary business fust to 

 kill the suake ; then rushiug to his wagon, he drew 

 the bung from a keg of whisky and to< k a large 

 draught of the contents. After swallowing as much 

 as he could, he took some tobacco from his pocket, 

 saturated that with whisky, and applied this poultice 

 to his hand. He then proceeded with his team, drink- 

 ing whisky at intervals, until he reached a dwelling, 

 when he removed the poultico and found that tho 

 wound had turned green. Applying another of tho 

 same kind, he resumed his journey and his potent 

 doses, reaching his destination the next day as subcr 

 as a judge, having imbibed enough fire-water to in- 

 toxicate a dozen men. 



The quantity sometimes swallowed under such circ- 

 umstances is utterly incredible. Professor Halford 

 describes a snake-bite, near Melbourne, in which two 

 bottles of brandy were druuk without any symptoms 

 of intoxication, and auother of a girl of fourteen, who, 

 when bitten by an Australian snake, drank three 

 bottles without being intoxicated. She recovered. 



Alcohol has powerful attractions for oxygen, writes 

 Professor Halford, on the theory that the venom has 

 produced foreign cells in the blood ; so that if alcohol 

 engage the oxygen absorbed by the poison, the celis 

 sperish and recovery ensues. Dr. Shortt, of Madras 

 aays : Bring the patient under the influence of iotoxii 

 tion as speedily as possible ; make him drunk and 



