Treatment of the Bite. 169 
ing the wound, in conjunction with the above. ©. Washing 
with cold or tepid water, poured from a vessel held at some 
distance from the wound. . .. F. Cauterisation, when im- 
mediate, is at once the promptest and safest treatment. The 
best instrument is a piece of iron heated to a white heat, in 
shape pointed, round, or the figure of,an olive. Iron instru- 
ments. of a suitable shape are at hand in every dwelling, 
and, while being heated, suction, washing, and compression 
(above the wound) should be resorted to. Gunpowder, a fusee, 
or a lucifer match, may be ignited in the wound when the iron 
is not immediately accessible. G. Caustics, solid or fluid, 
may be employed, with the same success, or they may be pre- 
ferable or supplementary to the actual cautery. H. Eucision 
and scarification should be practised when necessary, though 
they demand more skill. 
Suction is recommended, in medical works, in the case of 
snake poison, but I believe it to be by no means safe, in 
view of the ready absorption of that virus by the mucous 
membrane. Few mouths are free from slight abrasions, de- 
cayed teeth, or spongy gums (emitting blood on suction), 
and it may be a grave question whether the virus of rabies 
might not enter the circulation if this plan is resorted to 
by someone else than the sufferer; though, perhaps, the 
latter would not be further imperilled by sucking the wound 
himself; and he is undoubtedly under a moral obligation to 
take any risk on himself, if he can reach the wound, rather 
than allow another to incur it. Actual cauterisation, caustics, 
excision, and scarification, should not be entrusted to any but 
skilled hands. A ready mode of treatment by the general 
public is suggested by Dr. Fleming, when medical aid cannot 
be obtained. After cleaning the wound, by washing and com- 
pression, pour black ink—the coloured inks may contain in- 
jurious chemicals—into the wound, and wash out the stain 
and repeat the process. The object of this is to insure 
thorough cleansing. The same treatment as that recom- 
mended by Dr. Fleming, excision, cauterisation, &c., may be 
