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Xlll. Oji the Cure of Vcrjons I'ltten hy Snakes in India ** 

 £>- John Williams, Efq. 



X HE following ftatement of fafts relative to the cure of 

 perfons bitten by fnakes, fele£led from a number of cafes 

 which have come within my own knowledge, require no 

 prefatory introdu6lion, as it points out the means of obtain- 

 ing the greateft felf-gratification the human mind is capable 

 of experiencing, That of the prefcrvation of the life of a fel- 

 low-creature, and fnatching him from the jaws of death, by 

 a method which every perfon is capable of availing himfclf 

 of. Eau de Luce, I learn from many communications which 

 I have received from different parts of the country, anfwcrs 

 as well as the pure cauftic alkali fpirit; and though, from 

 its having fome effential oils in its compofition, it may not 

 be fo powerful, yet, as it muft be given with water, it only 

 requires to increafe the dofe in proportion ; and, fo long as 

 it retains its milky white colour, it is fufficiently efficacious. 

 From the eff'eft of a ligature applied between the part bit- 

 ten and the heart, it is evident that the poifon diffufes itfelf 

 over the body by the returning venous blood ; deftroying 

 the irritability, and rendering the fyftcm paralytic. It is 

 therefore probable that the volatile cauftic alkali, in refifting 

 the difeafe of the poifon, does not a£l fo much as a fpecific 

 in deftroying its (quality, as by counteracting the eff'e6t on 

 the fyftcm, by flimulating the fibres, and prcferving that ir- 

 ritability which it tends to deftroy. 



Case I. In the month of Auguft 1780, afervant of mine 

 was bitten in the heel, as he fuppofcd, by a fnake; and in 

 a few minutes was in great agony, with convulfions about 

 the throat and jaws, and continual grinding of the teeth. 

 Having a wifti to try the cffefts of volatile alkali in fuch 

 cafes, I gave him about forty drops of Eau de Luce in water, 

 and applied fome of it to the part bitten. The dofe was re- 



* From tl\c Afiaiic Kefcavchei. 



pcated 



