Snake Bites. 465 



and potency of venom instilled, reduction of venom by recent bites, small 

 size or v?eakness of the bitten, and degree of susceptibility. Immunity of 

 swine and mongoose, subcutaneous fat little vascular ; venom in blood- 

 vessel very deadly. Poison acid, with alkalies inert ; contains albumose. 

 Not made inert by 154.4" F-i which coagulates albumen. Treatment: 

 Should be instant ; collapse may occur in a few minutes. Tourniquet with 

 broad band ; cauterize with potash, lunar caustic or zinc chloride ; suction 

 through tube ; wring or milk tissues ; ammonia, potassium permanganate, 

 tincture of chloride of iron. Internally, antitoxic serum of immune animal ; 

 stimulants, digitalis, strychnia, nitro-glycerine, ammonia, alcohol short of 

 narcosis. Immunization by injecting venom in tip of tail ; amputate if 

 effects are excessive. Antagonism of snake venom to rabies, and abrine. 



The dental armature of snakes consists of two rows on each side 

 of the upper jaw, and in the venomous species one or more teeth 

 on each side are enormouslj- developed and furnished with a closed 

 canal or a groove, in different genera, which communicates with 

 the poison gland back of the eye. In the quiescent condition the 

 teeth are directed backward and flattened down, but when about 

 to strike the mouth is opened widely and the maxillary bones in 

 which the poison teeth are embedded are moved by muscles so 

 that the latter project at nearly right angles from the surface, 

 ready to penetrate the victim. Meanwhile the poison glands are 

 compressed by the temporal muscles so as to discharge the venom 

 through the tooth into the wound. The wound will vary accord- 

 ing to the snake, even with the strike direct, that of the rattle- 

 snake, copperhead or moccasin usually showing two small, deep 

 punctured wounds corresponding to the two poison fangs, while 

 in other genera there may be four, — two in line on each side. 

 The strike may however be oblique and the wound becomes a tear 

 or scratch in place of a series of punctures. The rattlesnakes 

 (Crotalus durissus and horridus) and the copperhead (Cenchris 

 contortrix) prefer warm, sunny, dry situations, while the water 

 moccasin (Cenchris piscivorus) keeps by water and the adjacent 

 banks and lives on aquatic animals. 



The vipers of Europe are much less dangerous than these North 

 American genera, but again the latter do not compare with the 

 deadly character of many South American, Asiatic, African and 

 Australian serpents. In India alone there are 20,000 deaths 

 yearly in the human population from snake-bite, and the domestic 

 animals suffer to a much greater extent. 



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