INCIDENTS AND REMEDIES 263 



Snake-Bite. — Generally speaking, poisonous snakes bite 

 at night, and non-poisonous during the day. Unless one 

 is certain the snake is non-poisonous treat all cases of snake- 

 bite as poisonous. Treatment. — If a finger or a toe is bitten 

 cut round its base right down to the bone, and wash it 

 thoroughly in a 5 per cent solution of potassium perman- 

 ganate. If any other part of the body is bitten, at the 

 side of the bite pinch up the skin between the thumb and 

 forefinger, and cut it right out, about 2 inches square, and 

 wash thoroughly with a 5 per cent solution of potassium 

 permanganate. If quickly available, a razor is the best 

 instrument for this purpose, but if not any knife or even 

 a spear will do. This should be done within three minutes 

 of the bite. I once had a case of a native who was bitten 

 in the toe, and I cut round its base with an ordinary dinner 

 knife. I am fairly certain it was a poisonous snake, as he 

 had some symptoms of snake poisoning afterwards, but 

 we never caught the snake. After-Treatment. — Don't give 

 alcohol. Put patient to bed and keep him warm. In 

 cases of bite by cobra or Russels viper give at least 100 c.c. 

 of antivenine. Inject it hypodermically along the chest 

 wall in the arm-pit. The hypodermic syringe must be 

 sterilized before use. Best method of sterilizing is by 

 boiling. Antivenine may be repeated again in a few hours 

 if patient has any symptoms, e.g. weakness going on to 

 paralysis, weak and rapid pulse, weak and irregular 

 breathing. 



Scorpion Sting. — Scorpion sting is not dangerous, but 

 infernally painful. Treatment. — Quarter grain of cocaine 

 injected at the side of the sting will cure the pain in a few 

 moments. A Christian scientist friend of mine told me 

 that ordinary lamp oil was the only cure for scorpion sting. 



Broken Collar-Bones. — Diagnosis. — Patient usually feels 

 the bone break, and the arm on that side is helpless, though 

 not always as helpless as one would imagine. A friend of 

 mine took a toss, broke his collar-bone, mounted again, 

 and went after the pig, but failed to pick it up. I had 

 taken a toss at the same time, dislocated my shoulder, and 

 was being attended to when my friend came back. He 



