I 



1 3W On the Bite of Serpents. 



correct experiments had nearly robbed it of all its ftinncc 

 rcpLitaliou. It appears from the abbe Fontana's highly in- 

 teresting work on /jo/'.fo???, that this alkali, whether ex,ter- 

 nallv applied or internally exhibited, was of no use in di- 

 minishing the activity of the venom of the viper, which is 

 so very similar to that of our rattlesnake. One qnotation 

 from the Italian philosopher's work I beg leave to lay before 

 ou : "I had (he says) several animals, such as hens, rab- 

 its, gaiinea piga, &c. bit in the leg, and some minutes 

 after made deep and extensive incisions into the wou.nded 

 parts. I washed these incisions with pure volatile alkali, 

 and covered the legs with linen bandages. I got ready an 

 equal number of animals of the same size, and of the same 

 kinds, to serve as a comparison. These were likewise bit 

 in the leg ; but I neither made incisions, nor applied to 

 them the volatile alkali. The result of twenty-four ex- 

 periments was not favourable to this medicine applied to 

 the incisions, aiid the violence of the disease was even more 

 considerable in the former than in the latter*." Upon the 

 whole, Fontana is of opinion that his experiments " not 

 Duly demonstrate flie absolute inutility of the volatile al- 

 kali against the bite of the \iper, when applied externally; 

 but," that " they at the same time prove still further that 

 it cannot have a direct and specific operation when it is even 

 taken internally." 



I do not pretend, sir, to decide between your experience 

 and the experiments of Fontana. I can, in great sincerity, 

 Assure y'ou that I repose much confidence in your caution 

 "wnd accuracy in conducting medical inquiries, aud in your 

 candour in relatins: your observations. Bat do we not ver\f 

 ofteji ascribe tifccts, both good and bad, to our remedies, 

 v> hich those remetlies have not produced ? Do not our 

 patients sometimes recover from violent diseases without 

 liie aid of any mediciues whatever? Docs not nature (that 

 is, the powers or tendencies of the constitution) very fre- 

 quently cure a gonorrhcea ? Nay, do we not Had the same 

 powers, in some instances, sutlicient to cure the malignant 

 disease of yellow fever ? 



The result of all mv inquiries relative to the poison of 

 serpents is verv favourable to the opinion, that the instances 

 of spontaneous recovorv from the inthienccof these poison* 

 are numerous. Without admitting this position as a fact, 

 what satisfactorv explanation can b^ oilered of the many 



'* Treinsc on the Vcuoui oi Ujc Viper, Sec. &:c.— E i^lish tranblation, 



ICCoycvii* 



