96 THE PLAINS. 



since the bite, that I thought its application would do 

 more harm mentally than good corporeally. 



I therefore had the wound carefully and thoroughly 

 washed with castile soap, cut off the protuberant pieces 

 of mangled flesh, and, binding it up, kept on a simple 

 water-dressing until the wound healed, which was in 

 about ten days. This man was with me for more than a 

 year after the bite. He never experienced any ill effects, 

 except temporary pain from the wound. 



He gave me a detailed account of the occurrence. 

 He and another man were sleeping on opposite sides of 

 a common or ' A ' tent. He dreamed that he was being 

 eaten up by some animal, but a sort of nightmare pre- 

 vented his moving. After some time, however, the pain 

 and horror together woke him up to find a skunk eating 

 his hand. With a cry and sudden effort he threw the 

 animal from him. It struck the other side of the tent, 

 and fell upon the other man, who waked up, and, re- 

 cognising the intruder, rushed out of the tent. The 

 bitten man, who had heard of the surely fatal result of 

 skunk-bite, was so paralysed with fear and horror that 

 he made no effort to get up, and, seeing the skunk 

 come towards him again, buried himself in the blankets. 

 The skunk walked all over him, apparently seeking for an 

 opening, and, finding none, began to scratch the blankets 

 as if trying to dig out his victim. The mental position 

 of this poor fellow can be better imagined than described. 



In the meantime the other man had loosened the tent 

 pins and lifted up one side of the tent, letting in the 

 moonlight ; then pelting the animal with sticks from a 

 distance, at last frightened it so that it ran off into the deep, 

 dark bank of the river. This skunk emitted no odour, 

 and was undoubtedly simply hungry. 



This is the only non-fatal case of skunk-bite I have 

 known in the Arkansas country. I have known several 

 cases of skunk-bite in Texas, and some cases in other sec- 

 tions of the country. They were not regarded as at all 



