SNAKE-POISON LITERATURE. 151 



And I have certainly seen no reason to modify Fayrer's opinion 



, , of the power 



or alter my opinions. Sir Joseph Fayrer s opi- of the perman- 

 nion as to the power of the permanganate may potash. 

 be gathered from the following extract from his 

 address to the Medical Society of London : — " In 

 a pamphlet (Experiments on permanganate of 

 potash, and its use in snake-poisoning, dated 

 1882, Richards says : — A solution of five per 

 cent, of permanganate of potash is able to neu- 

 tralise the poison," and recommends that this 

 ' should be injected into the bitten part after a 

 ligature has been applied ; it is less likely to 

 cause sloughing of the tissues than any other 

 agent which could neutralise the venom.' In his 

 letter dated July 22nd, 1882, he says, ' It is, 

 in my experience, the best local application we 

 possess. It is not a physiological antidote, but 

 a chemical one, and is utterly powerless to effect 

 any influence on the lethal action of snake-poi- 

 son ' (meaning constitutional action.) He is of 

 opinion 'that whenever opportunity offers, the 

 injection of permanganate of potash should be 

 resorted to, assuming that a ligature has been 

 applied (where it can be applied at all) within 

 five minutes from the bite. In the average run 

 of cases, the permanganate will certainly destroy 



