198 PIONEER LIFE J OB, 



simple remedy the best one which can be resorted to 

 for the bite of a rattle-snake. A young man of my 

 acquaintance was once bitten, and I immediately 

 dug a hole in the ground, eighteen inches deep, into 

 which the leg was placed and covered with earth. 

 At first he experienced no pain, but in a short time 

 it became so severe that I was compelled to hold 

 him down, but in three hours he fell asleep. After 

 sleeping two hours he awoke, and the leg was 

 entirely free from pain. Upon removing it from the 

 earth, it was very white, and the poison was all 

 drawn out. Another remedy is a plant called rattle- 

 snake-weed or ox-weed. It is found upon low land, 

 growing three or four feet high, with a slender stem, 

 and limbs like those of the sun-flower. Its blossoms 

 also resemble the sun-flower in form, but- are much 

 smaller. The juice is pressed from the leaves, and 

 applied to the wound, as well as administered inter- 

 nally. In the year 1804, a man named John English 

 was bitten by a rattle-snake while harvesting. He 

 was struck in the large vein of the ankle, and in 

 fifteen minutes the effects of the bite were visible in 

 every part of his body and face. We carried him 

 to the house, and as soon as possible obtained the 

 weed, all of which required about half an hour. 

 At this time his jaws were set so firmly that we were 

 compelled to pry them open to administer the juice. 

 He revived immediately, and we made a decoction 

 of the weed, which we continued to give him. In 

 four days he was able to sit up, but it was some time 

 before he entirely recovered. A poultice of red 



