106 THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 



At midnight on April 6th, 1910, I was hastily summoned to see 

 the late Mr. Maclntyre, Postmaster of Trincomalee, who had been 

 bitten by a Polonga. On arrival at his residence, thirty to forty 

 minutes after the accident, I found him seated erect on a chair on 

 his verandah. He was bathed in a cold, clammy sweat, and com- 

 plained of feeling sick, and was vomiting continually. The ejected 

 matter consisted of a few grains of boiled rice and water and bile- 

 stained fluid, and later on of glairy mucus. He had been attended 

 to, within five or ten minutes of the accident by a constable, who 

 applied to the wound a black " snake stone " such as I have seen 

 in the possession of " snake charmers." Internally a remedy, 

 prepared by dissolving part of a light green stone in water, had 

 been administered with the object of producing vomiting. * * * 



Three hemp ligatures were applied by his wife round the 

 injured limb : one just above the ankle, another round the knee, and 

 the other round the lower part of the thigh. The wound is said to 

 have bled freely, staining all the bed linen. Careful examination, 

 after cleansing of the limb, revealed a single, black, pin-point 

 puncture on the inner side of the right heel, about an inch above 

 the sole. There was then no bleeding, and but very slight pain 

 complained of. The tissues around had a faint bluish tint, and the 

 limb was swollen from the knee downwards. The ligatures, I 

 found, were not tightly applied. The patient complained of great 

 weakness, and there was much restlessness, violent retching, and 

 inability to sleep. 



I incised the wound freely, and ilijected into it a satm-ated solution 

 of permanganate of potash. A series of punctures were also made 

 all round, and the same solution injected hypodermically into the 

 tissues. Powdered crystals were then rubbed in, and the wound 

 packed with the same. The limb was postured, and compresses also 

 of the solution applied and frequently renewed. 



Pour fluid ounces of whisky and half an ounce of sal volatile 

 were administered internally at once, and a full dose of strychnine 

 and ether injected hypodermically into the arms an hour later. 

 The subsequent treatment consisted of a mixture of carbonate of 

 ammonium, citrate of cafiein, strychnine and digitalis, and 

 hypodermic injections of adrenalin and strychnine. The treatment 



