26 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



advise as to when the ligature may be 

 finally removed. 



Some writers have advised that if 

 the bite is anywhere on the forearm 

 or wrist, the ligatnre must be placed 

 alx)ve the elbow, as there is only one 

 bone there, and more pressure can be 

 brought to bear upon the blood ves- 

 sels, but, as venom spreads exception- 

 ally quickly, it is advisable to have it 

 tied close to the wound so that the 

 poisoning will be localised, and the 

 venom can be removed more easily 

 than if it were allowed to spread 

 throughout the muscles. A second 

 ligature may be placed above the 

 elbow if desired, but it is not abso- 

 lutely essential. 



Alcohol and ammonia have no 

 curative effect whatever, either taken 

 inwardly or applied to the wound. 

 \"enom has been mixed with both these 

 chemicals and has retained all of its 

 poi.sonous properties. 



In some countries, especially where 

 Cobras and \'ipers exist, an anti- 

 veninc serum is procurable. This is 

 injected hypodermically near the site 

 of a bite, and has proved to be most 

 eff'ective. It is prepared by treating 

 an animal (usually a horse) with in- 

 creasing doses of venom for a con- 

 siderable time, until it becomes 

 immune to almost any amount of 

 venom that may be injected into it; 

 then the serum is extracted. It is 

 effective in cases of bites from the 

 species of snakes used in its prepara- 

 tion, but not in those in which the 

 victim has been bitten by some other 

 species ; for instance. Cobra antivenine 

 is an antidote to Cobra poison only. 

 Some years ago the Public Health 

 Department of New South Wales 

 made a number of experiments by 

 treating a horse with the venom of a 

 Tiger snake ; eventuallv an antivenine 

 .serum was prepared and was effective, 

 but only for bites inflicted by Tiger 

 snakes. In 1906 the same Department 

 issued a jiamphlct on venoms, com- 

 piled h}- the doctor v.'ho made all the 

 experiments, and I have no doubt that 

 any reader who is interested may still 

 be able to ])rocure one on application 

 to the authorities concerned There 

 are many other splendid papers on 



snake venoms, antidotes, treatment, 

 etc., but they mostly deal with snakes 

 which are foreign to Australia. The 

 following is a summary of the treat- 

 ment, in the order in which it is best 

 to apply it : — 



1. Ligature: to localise the effect 

 of poisoning. 



2. Cut the flesh : to drain aw-ay 

 poisoned blood. 



3. Apply permanganate crystals : 

 to neutralise and kill the 

 venom. 



4. Suck or squeeze out as much 

 blood as possible. 



5. Send for a doctor. 



I have placed the doctor last on the 

 list for the reason that every second 

 is valuable ; and every second that 

 treatment is delayed means that the 

 venom is getting a better hold upon the 

 system. If the patient shows signs 

 of collapse, give stimulants such as 

 small doses of brandy or whisky, etc., 

 or strong tea and coffee ; he must also 

 have complete rest. 



Unless one has made a close study 

 of snakes, it would be almost impos- 

 sible for him to determine at a glance 

 a venomous from a non-venomous 

 species, but the bite marks of the tw'o 

 types differ considerably from each 

 other, as illustrated on page 22. 



In Australia there are only two well- 

 knovv'u non-venomous snakes, and they 

 are the Diamond and Carpet snakes ; 

 so, for safety's sake, all other species 

 had better be looked upon as deadly, 

 or at least venomous. 



Any Australian snake which is not 

 thicker than your little finger is too 

 small to inflict a fatal bite. 



It is as well, however, to treat all 

 bites as dangerous, because in some 

 cases, where the bite is from a non- 

 venomous type, blood poisoning may 

 set in. 



In cases where the large number 

 of punctures leaves no doubt as to the 

 bite being that of a non-venomous 

 snake, it is not necessary to applv a 

 ligature or to cut the flesh, but the 

 wound should be washed in a weak 

 solution of permanganate of potash ; 

 and hot fomentations would be of 

 CTeat value. 



