Chemical and Medical Facts ^ yc. 101 



XVII. Miscellaneous Chemical and Medical Facts, Ob- 

 servations, and Conjectures. Communicated in a letter 

 to the Editor, from John Brickell, M. D., of 

 Sa'oannahy in Georgia. 



I TINGED a bit of paper of a sky-blue co- 

 lour by litmus, secured it round a slip of cork, had 

 it put between the jaws of a Rattle- Snake (not quite 

 dead), and its head pressed. The poison squirted 

 out, as if from a syringe ; the paper touched by it 

 had its white restored, and a margin of red divided 

 the white from the blue. Immersion of the paper in 

 a solution of potash discharged the red, and restored 

 the blue. 



This evidence, of the poison containing an acid, 

 indicates the propriety of alkaline remedies for the 

 bite of these animals. I have seen them applied, 

 successfully, in a most dreadful case, in Avhich Pre- 

 nanthes alba, and other remedies, had failed. 



As the serpent's teeth, by their structure, may de- 

 posit the poison below the surface, the incumbent 

 flesh ought to be removed, that the remedy may have 

 access to the venom. For this purpose, the applica- 

 tion of a hot iron seems eligible. 



Persons bit by dogs, suspected of rabies, have 

 been treated on the same plan, from my not knowing 

 any (apparently) more reasonable. No harm has en- 

 sued. 



