﻿XVIII. 



ON THE CURE OF PERSONS 

 BITTEN BY SNAKES. 



BY JOHN WILLIAMS, ESQ^. 



THE following ftatement of fads relative to the 

 cure of persons bitten by snakes, selected from a 

 number of cases which have come within my own 

 knowledge, require no prefatory introduction, as it 

 points out the means of obtaining the greateft self- 

 gratification the human mind is capable of experienc- 

 ing, That of the preservation of the life of a fellow- 

 creature, and snatching him from the jaws of death, by 

 a method which every person is capable of availing 

 himself of. Eau de Luce, I learn from many com- 

 munications which I have received from different parts 

 of tr;e country, answers as well as the pure caustic 

 alkali spirit ; and though, from its having some es- 

 sential oils in its composition, it may not be so power- 

 ful, yet, as it rauft be given with water, it only requires 

 to encrease the dose in proportion ; and, so long as 

 it retains its milky white colour, it is sufficiently effi- 

 cacious. 



From the effect of a ligature applied between the 

 part bitten and the heart, it is evident that the poison 

 diffuses itself over the body by the returning venous 

 blood ; destroying the irritability, and rendering the 

 system paralytic. It is therefore probable that the vo- 

 latile caustic alkali, in resisting the disease of the poi- 

 son, does not act so much as a specific in destroying 

 its quality, as by counteracting the effect on the sys- 

 tem, by stimulating the fibres, and preserving that ir- 

 ritability which it tends to destroy. 



Vol. II. Y 



