266 PHILOSOPHICAL. TRANSACTIONS. [ANNO 1738. 



a simple mixture, (Sp. Vitriol dulcis. Sp. Vitriol, p. i, Sp. V, p, iij,) with an 

 anodyne mineral liquor, on which a copious sweat ensued, which sensibly re- 

 lieved the patient. Though this medicine might contribute to the cure, yet 

 the chief part in this affair is to be ascribed to the oil of oh'ves, because on 

 anointing with it, the symptoms abated instantly. 



Dr. Vater, in speaking of the serpentine or viper-stone, relates a very ex- 

 traordinary accident, if true, from Kaenipfer's Amaenit. p. 579. The case was 

 this : in the house of a Dutch governor on the coast of Coromandel, a ser- 

 vant maid happened to be bitten in the foot by a cobra cabelo. The serpentine- 

 stone was immediately laid on; which falling ofF, and no other being to be had, 

 nor any new milk being at hand to wash out the pores of the stone in, a wet 

 nurse being in the house, who was anxious for the sudden effects of the poison, 

 milked some milk upon the stone out of her own breasts; on which her nipple 

 began immediately to be painful, and soon after the whole breast of that side 

 swelled, and was inflamed, even to the hazard of her life for 3 days together, 

 and the hardness did not leave her breast in less than 10 days. It must be re- 

 marked, that her nipple was before somewhat excoriated by the gum of her 

 nursling, by which the small veins being laid bare, it was readier to receive the 

 infection of the venom rendered more active by the warmth of the milk. 



When he speaks of oil of olives in particular, and its effects against poison 

 in general, he cites a remarkable passage from Matthiolus in his Comment, 

 Lib. 2, Dioscorid. p. 232, where he says, he had found by experience, that 

 oil prepared by himself, into which a great number of scorpions had been put, 

 being anointed on the heart, and where the pulsations of the arteries of the 

 hands and feet are felt, frees from all poisons; nay, it likewise cures those who 

 have been bitten by vipers, or stung by any other venomous animals. The 

 author, comparing this with the virtue of the oil alone, for the bite of a viper, 

 concludes, that the scorpions infused in it add nothing to its real virtue. 



He concludes this dissertation, by endeavouring to explain the manner of 

 its operating, which he attributes to its fat inviscating nature, by which it 

 sheathes the spiculse of the poison. He remarks, that Celsus, Lib. 5, c. 27, 

 advises, after dipping a person in a hydrophobia in cold water, to put him into 

 warm oil. Lastly, he mentions the great secret of the viper- catchers, that 

 is, the fat of vipers ; which, he thinks, acts in the same manner as the 

 olive-oil. 



