14 FIELD AND FOREST. 



was clearly of the most active character, and no immediate steps taken 

 to interfere with its free absorption. 



The Copperhead is the only poisonous serpent now found in the 

 District, and confined chiefly to the rocky shores of the Potomac and 

 Rock Creek, in the uncultivated and comparatively unfrequented spots. 

 They formerly abounded here, as the recollections of the older 

 citizens bear testimony. Of late years I have, however, heard of 

 only two or three well authenticated instances of their occurrence, be- 

 sides one within my own experience. 



On the 9th of May, 1870, I caught three Copperheads at "Windy 

 Branch," a point on the Virginia .shore, some three-fourths of a mile 

 below the place where the above-mentioned snake was found. They 

 were some 100 feet above the water, near an old quarry, and com- 

 prised a large male and female, and a young one about 10 inches 

 long, The female I secured unhurt, by catching it with my hands as 

 it was trying to escape — not being aware at first of its poisonous 

 character. I carried it home, and kept it a month to experiment 

 with ; among other things, making it bite a kitten about four months 

 old, which recovered without antidotes, after having a paw enormous- 

 ly swollen. Before placing it in the Army Medical Museum for osseous 

 preparation, 1 examined the venom microscopically, with no results 

 other than- those so well given by Prof. W. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, 

 and found it had an insipid, sourish taste, and acid reaction. 



The treatment of the bite may be condensed as follows ; bandage 

 the part above the wound, if a limb ; apply caustics, or actual cautery 

 if at hand ; encourage bleeding by enlarging the wound, and give at 

 once large doses of whiskey, brandy, &c., until intoxication appears. 



E. M. SCHAEFFER, M. D. 



Influence of Illuminating Gas upon Vegetation. 



This subject has been quite extensively studied in German)- by 

 Boehm, Spath, Meyer, and others, but their investigations related 

 principally to the influence of long contact of the gas with the roots 

 of plants. In the investigation about to be described, however, more 

 particular attention was given to the influence of the gas upon the 



