116 POISONOUS SNAKES AND SNAKE POISONS. 



ate of potassium solution. Stimulants should be given ac- 

 cording to indications — i. e., the condition of the pulse. 

 Laxatives, diuretics, and diaphoretics should be admin- 

 istered to aid in the elimination of the poison. The diet 

 should be as nutritious as the stomach can digest. Care 

 must also be taken to relax the ligatures from time to 

 time to escape gangrene. This relaxation of course lets 

 some poison into the circulating blood, but in a few mo- 

 ments it is possible again to tighten the ligatures, and 

 again to inject the local antidote. If the dose of venom 

 be large and the distance from help great, except the 

 knife or cautery immediately applied, little is to be done 

 that is of value. 



In consideration of the dangerous character of poison- 

 ous snakes, the question arises what we must do when 

 we see one. If the Buddhists whose religious belief for- 

 bids them to kill any living animal, find a poisonous snake 

 inside their houses or on the road, they put it into a 

 basket and throw that into the river. There are people 

 also among us who protest against killing a poisonous 

 snake and call it an unnecessary cruelty, but there is 

 no need of arguing with such people, they have no idea 

 of what they say. What does Virgil advise? "Come 

 on, grasp your stick firmly, lift up stones and strike 

 bravely at the brood of vipers however they may raise 

 their fangs threatening, and however they may hiss with 

 expanded chest." And we follow his advice. We can- 

 not yet boast of having gained the victory over these 

 dangerous reptiles, and as long as the war against them 

 is lasting it would out of place to spare one. We kill 

 them and are right in doing so, for merciless anni hila- 

 tion only will be beneficial to the human race. We may 

 never extinguish them entirely, but we can diminish 

 their number as has been proved in all those countries 

 where agriculture has reached a high state of develop- 

 ment, for instance in the United States and in Brazil, 



72 



