194 ON SNAKE-BITES AND THEIR ANTIDOTES, 



ten miles from land : it was rather like the brown-banded Snake, 

 with yellow belly, three feet long, with flat tail ; the poison fangs 

 were distinct, and I pronounced it venomous to those who were 

 handling it incautiously. Persons in ships having often an idea 

 that they are something like eels, have, more than once, paid the 

 penalty of such a mistake with their life. I knew of two instances 

 in India occurring, one to a surgeon of a man-of-war at Madras, 

 and one to a major returning home. 



The fangs of all snakes, when extracted or broken off, render- 

 ing them harmless for the time, are re-produced to any extent 

 after a few weeks, each reptile being provided with a number of 

 rudimentary fangs, ready to re-place the lost ones. 



The ignorance of this fact has been fatal to snake-charmers 

 in India, who exhibit the Cobra in the streets without any danger, 

 and have all at once died from its bite, when least suspecting it. 

 Underwood, of Melbourne, probably made the same mistake. In 

 the present state of our knowledge, there is no such thing as a 

 distinct certain antidote for a snake bite, but there may be 

 included under the head of antidotes, a system of medical and 

 surgical treatment, which, if promptly and carefully applied, 

 will, I have no hesitation in saying, be found equal to over- 

 come any symptoms arising from the poisonous reptiles of this 

 country. 



I shall proceed at once to point out the treatment which has 

 the general sanction of the medical profession in various parts of 

 the world, and which has been found to succeed in desperate 

 cases where no particular antidote could have been of any 

 avail. 



TREATMENT : The person bitten should immediately suck the 

 wound well ; and if he cannot reach the part, cause it to be suck- 

 ed by somebody, as it extracts a large portion of the poison, which 

 is thus prevented entering into the system, and the danger 

 becomes less in proportion. This practice is of high antiquity, 

 and is known to be harmless to the person doing it, who may 

 wash his mouth out with salt and water afterwards. A ligature 

 should, at the same time, be applied, rather tight, about half an 

 inch above the wound, between it and the heart, which should be 

 left on for some time, as it stops the circulation, and prevents the 



