544 SNAKES. 



effects, causing the reptile to 'double itself up in numerous 

 folds, remaining as stiff as if cast in metal.' Creosote, also, 

 snakes hate, Fayrer tells us, and recommends that these 

 two drugs may at least be of use in driving them away from 

 dwellings, as many of them have an objectionably domestic 

 disposition. A few drops of carbolic acid poured on the floor 

 of their cages kill venomous snakes in a very short time. A 

 large Bungarus died in ten minutes in this way. 



Dr. Weir Mitchel approves of carbolic acid so far as to 

 recommend every backwoodsman to supply himself with a 

 little of it, which is easily portable and manageable in 

 capillary tubes. In several of his experiments with crotalus 

 venom, carbolic acid applied to the wound was attended with 

 success. 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 Indians which ensures their 

 success. In an instant, if his comrade be bitten, the savage 

 is on his knees, sucking the wound, grasping the limb firmly, 

 or strapping it tightly above and below the bite, knowing 

 quite well the importance of checking the circulation. He 

 has his 'poison pills,' and tobacco in his pouch. He 

 explodes gunpowder on the wound and loses not an 

 instant. Nor does the victim lose heart. He submits with 

 courage and confidence, and in these lie 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 w^as no danger. 

 And other cases are well known where bitten persons have 

 died of fright and the depressing influences surrounding the 

 accident, when they might possibly have recovered. 



