POISONOUS SNAKES OF NORTH AMERICA. 477 



It may be well to emphasize here, that in the case of children the 

 amount of the antidotal remedy to be administered must not be judged 

 by the age of the child, but by tbe amount of venom to be counter- 

 acted as well as by the character of the snake, and it is worth remem- 

 bering in this connection — besides the different action of the crotalid 

 and the elapid snakes — that the degree of danger chiefly depends upon 

 the size of the snake; that of our i)it vipers the rattlesnake is the most 

 dangerous, the copperhead less so, and the water moccasin the least 

 so, although in itself not to be trifled with. 



As tor the preliminary treatment before medical assistance can be 

 obtained or rational remedies applied, but little can be added to the 

 old methods employed. The first thing to be done is to tie a strong 

 ligature or two, a string or a handkerchief, between the wound and the 

 heart, whenever practicable; next, cutting deeply into the punctures so 

 as to make the blood flow freely; sucking out of the blood from the 

 wound, a procedure perfectly harmless, unless the person doing it has 

 an open wound in the mouth; next, careful loosening of the ligature so 

 as to admit a small quantity of fresh blood to the ligated member in 

 order to prevent mortiti(;ation; next, administration of a stimulant; if 

 at hand, small doses of an alcoholic liquor being given internally at fre- 

 quent intervals; if alcohol is not at hand, and a stimulant appears 

 imperative, a small dose of ammonia might be given, but only very 

 shortly after the bite, not on a later stage when it will certainly do 

 harm, at least in cases of poisoning by rattlesnake, copperhead, or 

 water moccasin; if the patient has to wait for the arrival of a doctor, 

 now is the time to try all reliable means to produce a profuse perspi- 

 ration. 



There may occasionally be such extreme cases in which amputation 

 and cauterization by heat or otherwise would be the only available 

 remedies, but as a rule such barbaric treatment need not be resorted 

 to, and in most cases would probably be a cure worse than the disease. 



There has been placed on the market several specially constructed 

 contrivances for use in cases of snake bite, to which I wish to call 

 attention. 



A cupping instrument specially constructed for snake bite so as to 

 be easily applicable to small surfaces or the extremities was made 

 several years ago by William Hume, instrument maker, Lothian street, 

 street, Edinburgh, Scotland, at a i^rice of 10s. Orf. 



In France, MM. i'elliot & Uelon, 2G Rue du Roi-de-Sicile, Paris, at 

 the instance of Prof. Kaufmann, have arranged a pocket case contain- 

 ing hypodermic syringe, chemicals, directions for use, etc., for the local 

 treatment by chromic acid. Price, 6 francs. 



Kaufmann's own directions for the injection of this fluid are as 

 follows : 



Two or three drops of an aqueous solution (1 to 100) of chromic 

 acid or permanganate of potash are injected with a Pravaz syringe 

 exactly into the puncture of each fang. It is necessary to let the 



