THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



Ligatures tied to prevent snake poison spreading 



through the blood to the heart. The dots represent 



bite marks. 



Throughout the world there are 

 many medical men who are making in- 

 vestigations and experiments with 

 venoms with the object of finding an 

 absolute antidote, one that will act suc- 

 cessfully against poisoning and death 

 from snake bite, no matter what 

 species of snake inflicts the bite. A 

 vast amount of valuable information 

 has been supplied during the last few 

 years. 



In Australia the most dreaded 

 species of snake is the Death Adder, 

 and rightly too, for over 50 per cent, 

 of persons bitten by this snake suc- 

 cumb to the venom. The Tiger Snake 

 comes next with a ratio of 45 per cent 

 deaths to bites inflicted ; while the 

 Brown Snake is much less deadly, the 

 ])ercentage of deaths from its bites 

 being about eighteen. The Black 

 Snake has very few deaths recorded 

 against it at all, although the majority 

 of bites are from this species. 



In this country a fair number of 

 fatalities from "snake bite" occur 

 every year ; in many cases, lives which 

 have been lost could have been saved 

 if proper treatment had been given. 

 Some of the improper treatments one 

 hears of, however, such as chopping 

 ofT a finger or a toe, cutting out lumps 

 of flesh, knocking a patient about to 

 keep him awake, and other equally 

 harsh operations, are absolutely un- 

 necessary, and often dangerous, and 

 my effort here is to save all this as well 

 as a few lives, by giving a safe and 

 sure remedy, one that is within the 

 reach of all, and if carried out quickly 

 and correctly, should never fail in cases 

 of bites from any of our Australian 

 snakes. 



Anyone who moves about where he 

 is likely to come in contact with 

 venomous snakes, or any home situ- 

 ated near where these reptiles abound, 

 should have the following essentials : 

 ( I ) crystals of permanganate of 

 potash, (2) a small, sharp knife or 

 lance, (3) and some string, elastic or 

 rag that can be used as a ligature. 



Follov/ing upon a bite from a 

 venomous snake, and within a minute, 

 if possible, a ligature must be applied 

 close above the punctures, and on the 

 side nearest the heart. Insert a stick 

 into the loop of the ligature and twist 

 it round until the latter is exception- 

 ally tight; this is painful, but neces- 

 sary. Then tie the stick higher up to 

 prevent it unwinding. As soon as this 

 is done wipe away any venom or saliva 

 that may be on the surface of the 

 skin, and make several longitudinal 

 cuts over the fang punctures ; they 

 should be as deep as. or deeper than, 

 the punctures inflicted by the snake. 

 Into these cuts force some crystals of 

 permanganate, and then squeeze the 

 wound so as to get rid of as much of 

 the poi.soned blood as possible. If 

 there are no cuts, cracks or abrasions 

 on the lips or in the mouth, the wound 

 may be safely sucked, either by the 

 patient or by a friend ; if any of the 

 venom is accidentally swallowed, no 

 harm will come of it so long as the 

 stomach is healthy and free from 

 ulcers or inflammation. If the bites 

 are on any part of the body where a 

 ligature cannot be applied, as much of 

 the above treatment as possible must 

 be faithfully adhered to. As soon as 

 these operations have been carried out, 

 a doctor should be sent for, but if 

 they have been performed quickly and 

 thoroughly, there need be very little 

 anxiety as to the result, since per- 

 manganate of potash has been proved 

 to be an absolute antidote to snake 

 venom once it comes in contact with 

 it. If a ligature be kept tight for more 

 than half an hour there is danger of 

 mortification setting in, so at the end 

 of that time it should be loosened for 

 an instant, and then tightened again. 

 This operation should be repeated 

 everv five minutes, and the doctor will 



