126 



HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



There is no known antidote for crotaline poison (as the venom 

 of the rattlesnake is called). 



Dr. L. Stejneger, of Washington, once snggested to me that a 

 solution of cromic acid or bichloride of gold, injected hypodermi- 

 callv about the wound, might prove efficacious. 



As crotaline poison is claimed to act directly on the medulla, it 

 would seem necessary to stimulate the heart's action with the hope 

 of tiding over the paralyzing effects of the poison. * This might, 



perhaps, be accomplished by the use of strychnia, to be given, I 

 should say, in doses of one fiftieth of a grain, repeated every half 

 hour, if there are symptoms of heart failure. Of course, it goes 

 without saying that every possible effort should be made to procure 

 the services of a regular physician. 



If a person should be bitten by a rattlesnake the wound should 

 at once be opened to produce a free flow of blood. Ligatures 



* Dr. Calmette, a French physician, claims to have attained good results by the use of hypochloride of calcium. 

 He also claims to have immunized animals by minimal subcutaneous inoculations of attenuated poison and 

 states that the serum of sucli vaccinated animals possessed strong specific antidotal properties against the 

 poison with which they had been vaccinated. — Aniiales de VJnst. Pasteur, May, 1894, and April, 1S95. 



