134 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



livid ring. With dull pains the hand swells, and the 

 swelling extends gradually to the arm. Soon come 

 cold sweats and naseau; respiration becomes pain- 

 ful, sight troubled, mind torpid, a general yellowness 

 shows itself, accompanied by convulsions. If help 

 does not arrive in time, death may come." 



"You give us goose-flesh, Uncle, " said Jules, with 

 a shudder. "What should we poor things do if 

 such a misfortune happened to us away from you, 

 away from home? They say there are vipers in 

 the underbrush of the neighboring hills. ' ' 



"May God guard you from such a mischance, my 

 poor children ! But, if it befalls you, you must bind 

 tight the finger, hand, arm, above the wounded part 

 to prevent the diffusion of the venom in the blood; 

 you must make the wound bleed by pressing round 

 it; you must suck it hard to extract the venomous 

 liquid. I told you venom has no effect on the skin. 

 To suck it, therefore, is harmless if the mouth has 

 no scratch. You can see that if, by hard suction 

 and by pressure that makes the blood flow, you suc- 

 ceed in extracting all the venom from the wound, 

 the wound itself is thenceforth of no importance. 

 For greater surety, the wound should be cauterized 

 as soon as possible with a corrosive liquid, aqua for- 

 tis or ammonia, or even with a red-hot iron. The 

 effect of the cauterization is to destroy the venom- 

 ous matter. It is painful, I acknowledge, but one 

 must submit to it in order to avoid a worse evil. 

 Cauterization is the doctor's business. The initial 

 precautions, binding to prevent the diffusion of the 

 venom, pressure to make the poisoned blood flow, 



