TREATMENT OF SNAKE BITE 901 



suit of small haemorrhages. There may be considerable 

 excitement and dread, and dizziness or faintness may be 

 followed by drowsiness or torpor. The nerve centers which 

 control arterial tension and respiration are profoundly affect- 

 ed. There is a great lowering of blood pressure, due to 

 vascular dilatation, with abdominal venous congestion. 

 Respiration and pulse usually become more rapid. Death 

 may result from paralysis of respiration, paralysis of the 

 heart, small haemorrhages into important parts of the brain 

 or other organs, and probably from other changes, for these 

 complex poisons act in many ways. 



Death, however, follows rattlesnake bite in probably 

 not more than 10 per cent of all cases, and most of these 

 fatal cases are in children. 



Where death does not supervene recovery may be quite 

 rapid. Often there is considerable sloughing about the 

 wound. Resistance to bacterial invasion is reduced and 

 serious infection may follow. 



There is some reason to believe that venom is removed 

 from the blood and destroyed in the liver. 



TREATMENT OF SNAKE BITE 



A considerable number of chemical substances will 

 destroy venom, but they also destroy and are destroyed by 

 the tissues and fluids of the body, which chemically are 

 similar to venom, and, therefore, their use is restricted to 

 the area immediately about the bite. The ideal method of 

 treatment would seem to be with an antitoxic serum. Such 

 serum has been prepared and seems to have been of use in 

 certain cases, but seldom can be available for use where 

 needed. 



From what has been said it may be seen that treatment 

 should be directed toward four ends. These are: 



