336 EEPTILIA. 



a procedure if tlie person has a sore lip or tongue, and is likely to 

 imperil two lives instead of one. Dr. Shortt in the Madras Monthly 

 Journal of Medical Science, March 1870, gives an instance of this in a 

 case in which he himself sucked the wound of a man. He says — •' The 

 blood I sucked out of the wound had a very peculiar taste, I I'elt nothing 

 sti'ange till about a couple of hours after the accident had occurred, 

 when I began to feel a tightness across the gums and rcof of the 

 mouth, in the place between the two incisors. This was followed by a 

 sharp stinging pain of a peculiar burning character. I was somewhat 

 restless and uneasy, and shortly after began to feel languid and faint, 

 when, for the first time, it struck me that I might have imbibed some 

 of the poison into my system. I became alarmed and anxious about 

 myself, I had some brandy and water, and felt somewhat better after 

 it ; while the pain and uncomfortable feeling in the roof of my mouth 

 continued, and my bowels were inclined to act. I did not give in to 

 the feeling, but resisted it altogether. At 3 P. M. the uncomfortable 

 feeling extended not only to the roof of the mouth, but to the same 

 extent in front of the incisor teeth, to the gums under the upper lip. 

 On retiring to bed as usual I slept soundly that night ; but about 

 4 A. M. next morning I was awakened by an acute burning pain in 

 the roof of the mouth, which continued for a couple of hours, and then 

 left, leaving behind a soreness, not only at the roof of the mouth, but 

 extending to the tongue to the extent of an inch from the tip. This 

 feeling became more acute on attempting to take my usual cup of tea, 

 nor could I taste any curry or other dish prepared with condiments, 

 which did not give me instant pain. 



''I believe the sucking out of the poison from the wound was the 

 main cause of saving the man^s life, yet, at least five minutes, if 

 not more, must have elapsed between the time the man was bitten and 

 the suction of the wound, and there must have been ample time for 

 some of the poison to have entei^ed the system. The Cobia was fresh 

 and vigorous, and the effect produced in my mouth was the best 

 evidence that ample poison was injected into the wound. I believe 

 the subsequent potash treatment, both internally and externally, in 

 which I solely depended in this case, had its action expedited by the 

 stimulant effect of the brandy, and aided materially in perfecting the 

 cure." 



The excision of the part likely to contain the poison is best. 

 Numerous remedies have been suggested and experimented on, but in 

 my opinion there is nothing better than the following recipe properly 

 adminstered when ligatures have been applied in time. 



Liquor Potass m. xxx. 



Brandy oz. iii. 



Water oz. ii. 



One-third part to be taken every 10 or 15 minutes according to 

 the urgency of the svmptoms. The wound too, after incision or ex- 

 cision, should also be washed with a solution of potass or permaganate 

 of potass. As recommended by Dr. Fayrer '* the patient should be 

 allowed to rest or lie down to sleep if he can.^' The common 



