55 o SNAKES. 



hand. He then proceeded with his team, drinking whisky at 

 intervals until he reached a dwelling, when he removed the 

 poultice and found that the wound had turned green. 

 Applying another of the same kind, he resumed his journey 

 and his potent doses, reaching his destination next day ' as 

 sober as a judge,' having imbibed enough 'fire-water' to 

 intoxicate a dozen men with no crotalus venom in their . 

 veins. The quantity sometimes swallowed under such 

 circumstances is utterly incredible. 



Professor Halford describes a case of snake-bite near 

 Melbourne, in which two bottles of brandy were drunk 

 without any symptoms of intoxication ; and another of a 

 girl of fourteen, who, when bitten by an Australian snake, 

 drank three bottles without being intoxicated ! She re- 

 covered. * 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 cells perish and 

 recovery ensues.' Others among the ablest experimentalists 

 similarly recognise the efficacy of alcohol. Dr. Shortt of 

 Madras says : * Bring the patient under the influence of 

 intoxication as speedily as possible. Make him drunk, and 

 keep him drunk, until the virus is overcome.' Dr. Weir 

 Mitchel found that delicate women and young children 

 under the influence of snake poison could take 'quarts of 

 brandy without injury, and almost without efl"ect.' One man 

 brought to him — a man of temperate habits — took one 

 quart of brandy and half a pint of whisky, which ' only 

 slightly intoxicated him for about four hours.' Another 

 man bitten in the throat was cured at the end of twent}'- 



