The Zoologist — November, 1869. 1893 



the veins. In the first case, a man named Brown was bitten severely 

 at about 11 a.m. by a large poisonous brown snake. He sucked the 

 wound, applied a ligature of string, and drank freely of brandy to re- 

 lieve fainlness. At noon he became powerless, and coma and vomit- 

 ing followed ; the pulse was feeble, and pupils sluggish. He was 

 brought to the surgery of Mr. Arnold, who excised the wound, applied 

 strong ammonia locally, and employed galvanism, with the occasional 

 administration of stimulants. The patient, however, continued to 

 sink. Professor Halford was sent for, and the man now seemed 

 dying: the Professor then injected some ammonia by a fine syringe 

 into the radial vein : the effects were marvellous. In a short time 

 the patient became sensible, and answered questions, and continued 

 with proper attention to progress favourably. 



Dr. Dempster Beckvvorth reports a second case, also successful : 

 a male adult was bitten at 8 a.m. by a black snake ; he sucked the 

 wound; it was subsequently scarified, and ammonia applied locally; 

 but he fell into a stupor, and at mid-day could not be roused. 

 " 1 therefore," says Dr. Dempster," injected liq. amraon. fort, into the 

 saphena vein, and also hypodermically. This affected him at once, 

 and, after the second ejection, he woke up and became sensible ; his 

 pupils, which had before been very sluggish, acted well, and his pulse 

 rose from 56 to 70. After this he progressed well, with the excep- 

 tion of violent vomiting for twelve hours : he is now (November 15th) 

 convalescent, but very weak. 1, of course, continued the stimulant 

 treatment, but I certainly attribute the man's recovery to the injection 

 of ammonia, of which I altogether injected about twelve minims." 



Professor Halford mentions, with reference to this case, that the 

 liq. amnion, fort, should be diluted before injection in such cases with 

 two or three times its quantity of water, and of this mixture from 

 twenty to thirty drops should be injected into one of the larger veins. 

 The syringe, he adds, should be carefully introduced, so as to give 

 the ammonia a fair chance: he disapproves of merely throwing the 

 injection under the skin, and believes that after the injection of the 

 ammonia there is no necessity for resorting to the use of stimulants. 



A third case is reported in the ' Newcastle Chronicle,' New South 

 Wales. It is that of a young woman, at Lake Macquarie, dangerously 

 bitten by a moderately large brown snake : apprehending immediate 

 danger she at once sucked the wound, cut out the snake-bitten part, 

 and tied a ligature round the finger about half an inch above the 

 wound, and another at the wrist. She then rode oflf as speedily as 



