Ii9 



Treatment of Snake Poisoning. 



In Clifford Allbutt's last edition of medicine the article on snake 

 poisons may be assumed to be the -standard one, written as it is by 

 two such distinguished workers in ophitoxicology as ilartin and 

 Lamb. It is disappointing to see that these two authorities confine 

 their remarks on the treatment of snake bite other than bj' antiven- 

 ■ene to a few lines, and that they state that bej'ond anti^'enene 

 nothing can be done in cases of snake poisoning but keeping the 

 patient quiet and warm, applying a ligature, excising the wounded 

 parts, and introducing strong permanganate of potash in solution. 

 I think there are other means than those mentioned at our disposal 

 from which one may expect good results. 



The measures to be adopted in combating the effects of snake poison 

 may be considered under three headings. (1) I'reirntive which aims 

 at preventing the absorption of any venom that may have been dis- 

 <'harged into the wound's, or reducing the dose absoj'bed. (2) Anti- 

 dotal which aims at introducing into the blood an agent that will 

 neutralise, and render inert any venom that has lieeu absorbed. 

 (3) Si/rnptoinaUc which aims at undoing the evil effects ^^'rought by 

 the absorption of venom into the system. 



(1) PREVENTIVK TREATMENT. 

 Under this heading I include all those measures undertaken with 

 the object of preventing the absorption of the venom injected into 

 the fang punctures, or at any rate reducing the dose of the -s-enom 

 absorbed to a minimum. These measures may lie (A) Medicimil 

 and (B) Mechunical. 



(A) Medicinal. — ^"arious agents are known to neutralise snake 

 venoiu when mixed with it in a vessel, a chemical decomposition 

 arising which robs the venom of its poisonous qualities. Such are 

 permanganate of potash, chloride of gold, silver nitrate, the chloride 

 and hypochloride of lime. etc. When Payrer (in 1869) first discover- 

 ed that permanganate of potash possessed this property, there was 

 theoretically every reason to suppose that it would prove antidotal 

 when introduced within the tissues holding the snake venom, but 

 experiment proved otherwise. What is true of permanganate is 

 probably equally true of the other bodies enumerated. Snake venom 

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