28 Bite of the North American Coral Snakes, | January, 
e 2,8 A.M. Symptoms.—Patient free from pain, pulse feeble, STI. still 
ae on ae side. General condition much improved. Recovery certain 
Continue use of recipe every two or three hours. 
In three days after treatment the patient felt in good health 
again. About two mionths after the event, however, pain set in 
once more at the bitten finger, extending to the knuckles, and 
after a few days an ulcer made its appearance above the latter. 
At this date Mr. Shindler informs me that he is in good 
health, but that pain is felt from time to time in the bitten finger. 
3. Desirous of learning whether cases like the preceding were 
common, I called upon Dr. Taylor, who referred me to several 
physicians in Texas. I received extended communications from 
Dr. Thomas Kearney and Dr. J. Herff, of San Antonio, which I 
append. I also caused search for parallel cases to be made in the 
catalogues of the library of the Surgeon-General’s office, to which 
I gained access through the kindness of Dr. Robert Fletcher. 
The search proved fruitless, showing that few or no such cases — 
have been hitherto recorded, 
The following letter of Dr. Kearney, mentioned above, gives in- 4 
formation of some cases of coral snake bite occurring in Texas, 
as well as allusions to the popular belief in serpent’s stings and : 
the treatment of rattlesnake bite : 
SAN HNN TEXAS, Fuly ro, 1882. 
_ Mr. Fredk. W. True, National Museum, Washin 
EAR SIR :—Your letter of June rgth, was ret is weuitig on my return tothis 
city. You wish me to give you whatever information’ I possess relative to the effects of 
‘the bite ot the coral snake, treatment, &c., and whether any of such wounds have come 
under my immediate notice, In reply I must say that I have never seen or treated 
a case of coral snake bite. The snake is classed here as among the poisonous rep- — 
tiles, and its bite is considered about as fatal as the bite of the rattlesnake. 
are seldom met within this portion of Texas. During my long residence in this 
State and in Mexico bordering on the Rio Grande, a period of nearly thirty years, I 
may have seen one or two dozen, and most of these, with few exceptions, I have met — 
with in shady nooks or in thickly shaded thickets, out of which they seldom ven- 
ture. This perhaps is one cause why they are not so often met with as the rattle- _ 
snake, whose liabits lead him to seek open glades and prairies where he can enjoy — 
his sunshine bath. From all the information that I have received as to the charac- 
‘ter of the coral snake, I have no doubt as to its poisonous nature, and it is the com- _ 
mon belief among the people, that like the scorpion he is armed with a sting in his — 
ail. 
The following case of a bite of a coral snake, followed by death, occurred neat — 
— Christi, Texas, during the last year of the “ late unpleasantness.” An infant 
child of Mr. Alexander Stringer was playing in the yard, and being attracted by the ~ 
bright colors of a coral snake, grasped it near the middle. The screams of the child 
brought its parents to its relief, but too late, the snake had done its work. The — 
d 
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