DE. TH. NEUMANN. 115 



themselves, wTiicli follow an injection of snake venom 

 th&re is no antidote. We may hope to find remedies 

 which will stimulate and excite the vital organs en- 

 feebled by the venom, and in this direction lie our hopes 

 for future help. At present we might formulate the 

 treatment for poison of a venomous snake as follows: 

 Above all we must consider that when a bite has occurred 

 no hesitation is allowable, a few seconds are sometimes suf- 

 ficient to decide the question of life or death. If possible, 

 if the wound be at the tip of a finger or somewhere else in 

 the extremeties, one ought to get rid of the part by such 

 prompt auto-surgical means as a knife or a burning hot 

 iron affords. If such a self-amputation is not convenient, 

 free incisions to the bottom of the wound and immediate 

 cauterization are necessary, or if these also be not prac- 

 ticable, sucking of the wound either by mouth or 

 cupping glasses should be resorted to. It is also wise 

 to quarantine the poison by two ligatures drawn 

 tight enough to stop all circulation of the blood. 

 The heart- weakness is made worse by emotion, and 

 at this time a man may need stimulus to enable 

 him to walk home ; the free administration of 

 alcohol or carbonate of ammonium is therefore recom- 

 mended. This might be termed the urgency treatment 

 of snake bite poisoning. The curative treatment requires 

 free incisions into all portions of the inflamed tissues, 

 and the thorough kneading into these incisions of a fif- 

 teen per cent solution of permanganate of potassium. 

 By working and kneading the tissues the venom and the 

 antidote may be made to come into contact, and the 

 former be so far destroyed. Multiple injections of the 

 same solution into all of the inflamed regions, but par- 

 ticularly into the region of the wound must then follow, 

 which seem to exert no deleterious effect, either locally 

 or generally. The involved area should be dressed by 

 means of lint saturated with a fifteen per cent permangan- 



71 



