REMARKS ON SOME FLORIDA SNAKES. 127 
should be applied above and below the wound to retard, as much as 
possible, the poison entering the circulation. A strong solution of 
permanganate of potash * might be injected deeply into the wounds 
made by the fangs. If that could not be obtained, carbolic acid 
might answer, the object being to cauterize the wound and prevent, 
if possible, the absorption of the poison. 
A good, stiff dose of brandy or whisky should be given, with a 
view to counteracting the ill effects on the nervous system produced 
by fear. Strychnia might 
then be given internally, 
and the heart action watched 
closely. If the patient can 
be kept alive and conscious 
for twenty-four hours there 
is a goodchance of recovery. 
In India the English gov- 
ernment not long ago offered 
a large sum of money as a 
reward for the discovery of 
an antidote for cobra poison. 
A French physician suc- 
ceeded in saving a certain 
percentage of small mam- 
mals which had been bitten by a cobra, by hypodermic injections of 
pure chloride of lime (chloride of calcium), one part of the chloride 
to eleven parts of water, and also made use of stimulants. How 
this treatment would succeed in the case of a rattlesnake is ques- 
tionable. 
Contrary to the general idea, the Indians have no antidote for 
rattlesnake poison. I have talked with many, and they assure me 
that if an Indian is bitten by a rattlesnake (which they rarely ever 
are) ‘*he no get well.” 
Some very large rattlesnakes have been killed in Florida. I have 
* Hypochloride of calcium would be indicated in preference to permanganate of potash, if it could be used 
at once. 
t 
