OUR VENOMOUS SNAKES. 



M. G. ELLZEY, M.D. 



A man near Cumberstone, Md., was 

 mowing grass, and felt something prick 

 the calf of his leg. A few minutes after, see- 

 ing in the grass a tiny green snake, he 

 supposed himself bitten and seizing his 

 scythe tried to hack out with it the bitten 

 part. The pain caused him to desist, in a 

 fainting condition; but soon recovering 

 sufficiently he whipped out his jack-knife 

 and renewed the assault on his leg, this 

 time successfully, in so far as by dint of 

 cutting and hacking he got away a large 

 piece of skin from the calf of his leg. At 

 once thereupon he dispatched a boy for 

 whiskey; bidding him ride for a man's life, 

 and to fetch along a doctor, if one could 

 be found. The hapless little reptile, inno- 

 cent as beautiful, was of course frantically 

 crushed to death; and the poor man was 

 frightened sorely, and painfully, if not se- 

 riously mutilated as the result of ignorance 

 scarcely less ludicrous than pitiful. 



This shows the defectiveness of an educa- 

 tional system which exercises itself with 

 cramming and shamming for exhibition 

 day, to the total neglect of the things of 

 common life. How easily might every 

 child be taught that in Southern Maryland 

 there is but one species of poisonous 

 snake, the copperhead; and that its bite, 

 though painful, is rarely fatal to man; 

 even when, as is commonly the case, the 

 treatment employed increases rather than 

 diminishes the danger and suffering. In 

 the United States, there are about 16 spe- 

 cies of rattlesnakes, all instantly recogniz- 

 able by the possession of rattles; 2 species of 

 mocassin, the copperhead and his Southern 

 congener, the cotton-mouth or venomous 

 water moccasin. Besides these we have 

 but one other snake which possesses 

 venom, viz., a small bead snake, a South- 

 ern species, with permanently erect poison 

 fangs; but having the head and mouth so 

 small as to be scarcely able to inflict a 

 wound, and so indisposed to even attempt 

 to bite that it is commonly handled with 

 impunity. It is doubtful whether its bite 

 would be, under any circumstances, at all 

 dangerous to man. 



The bites of some large rattlers are dan- 

 gerous, but of the smaller sorts — prairie 

 rattlers — but little so. I have met many 

 persons who have recovered from bites of 

 the common banded rattler of the moun- 

 tainous regions of the East. Doubtless 

 the most dangerous of our species is the 

 diamond rattler of the South, which has 

 been known to attain a length of 9 feet. 

 There are few, if any, more deadly snakes 

 in the world. Some of my readers will re- 

 call the case of the unfortunate English 

 gentleman who lost his life from the bite 

 of one of these snakes in Florida, several 



years ago. He laid down a loaded gun, 

 strange to tell, and attempted to dispatch 

 this deadly and powerful reptile with a 

 short stick. But the snake dodged the 

 blow aimed at it, and struck back with 

 deadly effect, implanting its terrible fangs 

 deeply in the gentleman's forearm. Yet 

 some tell us the rattlesnake cannot strike 

 more than 1-3 of its length from the place 

 of its coil, nor more than a foot above the 

 ground. The gentleman's companion im- 

 mediately shot the snake. He himself at 

 once ligatured the arm and freely excised 

 the bitten part. His companion hurried 

 him toward the nearest habitation, suck- 

 ing the wound vigorously as they went. 

 Alas, the gentleman sank rapidly and died, 

 and his companion, having some abrasions 

 about his mouth, was also seriously poi- 

 soned. His life was only saved with the 

 utmost difficulty by skilled and experi- 

 enced medical attendants, who were 

 promptly brought to his assistance. 



This case exhibits the deadly character 

 of the venom of the diamond rattler, and 

 the insane folly of laying down a loaded 

 gun, to attack a deadly reptile, in defensive 

 coil, with a short stick. Whether in such 

 a case as this any possible treatment can 

 avail to save life is more than doubtful. 

 I have often treated the bites of copper- 

 head snakes, and many of my acquaintances 

 have been bitten by them; but no fatal case 

 ever came within my personal knowledge. 

 I have heard of 3 fatal cases. One was that 

 of a tramp who claimed to have been bit- 

 ten by a copperhead, while alone in the 

 Blue Ridge mountains. It is doubtful 

 whether the man was bitten at all, or if bit- 

 ten, by no means certain he was not bit- 

 ten by a rattler. What is certain is that 

 he drank within a few hours more than a 

 gallon of whiskey, which he begged of sev- 

 eral persons on the plea of having been 

 bitten by a copperhead. In any case it 

 seems clear the whiskey caused his death. 



I come, therefore, to the conclusion 

 that the bite of the copperhead is rarely 

 indeed fatal to man. In the case of the 

 venomous water moccasin, I have personal 

 knowledge of 2 bites, both of which 

 proved fatal in less than an hour. I have 

 seen newspaper accounts of several other 

 fatal cases, and have had from medical 

 friends accounts of a number of recoveries. 

 It .seems certain the bite of this species 

 is more dangerous than that of the copper- 

 head. Except in the case of the diamond 

 rattler I believe prompt and skillful treat- 

 ment will save life in the great majority 

 of all cases of the bites of the venomous 

 species. What then should the treat- 

 ment be? Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, in his 

 great work on surgery, sums up briefly: 



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