Miscellaneous. 



S88 



(October, 1911. 



in distances from the tip cf 800 yards to 

 1,408 yards. In one instance a marked 

 fly was caught 800 yards from the point 

 of liberation 35 minutes after it had been 

 set free. 



To the report from which we have 

 quoted the above interesting and highly 

 instructive facts, Dr. G. S. Graham- 

 Smith contributes an account of observ- 

 ations which he has made on the ways in 

 which artificially infected flies carry 

 and distribute pathogenic and other 

 bacteria. The experiments which he 

 carried out demonstrate definitely that 

 artificially infected flies, both house-flies 

 and blow-flies, are capable of infecting 

 fluids, such as milk and syrup, on which 

 they feed and into which they fall. 

 " In the case of the house-fly, infected 

 with certain micro-organisms (B. pro- 

 digiosuii and B, anthracis), gross in- 

 fection may be produced in milk for at 

 least three days, and a smaller degree of 

 infection for six to nine days, or even 

 longer. Blow-flies produce gross in- 

 fection for six to nine days, with non- 

 spore-bearing micro-organisms (B. pro- 

 digious and B. pyocyaneus), and some 

 degree of infection for three or four 

 weeks." Dr. Graham-Smith considers it 

 probable, at any rate in the later stages, 

 that infection is mainly due either to 

 direct infection with the crop contents 

 vomited through the proboscis, or to 

 indirect infection by means of the limbs 

 which have been reinfected with 

 vomited material during the process of 

 cleaning them. 



SNAKE-BITE AND ITS TREATMENT. 



(From the Queensland Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. XXVI., Part 3, 

 March, 1911.) 



So many cases of snake-bite have oc- 

 curred during the last two months, two 

 being fatal, that we think it advisable to 

 republish an article on this subject which 

 appeared in the December issue of this 

 Journal, 1905, entitled " Snake-bite and 

 its Treatment." 



A correspondent has written suggest- 

 ing that, in the interests of miners, 

 some information should be given in the 

 Journal concerning snake-bites and the 

 best known methods of treating them. 

 It is an undoubted fact that men engaged 

 in mining and in prospecting run great 

 risk from snakes, both on the surface and 

 in abandoned shafts, which often have 

 to be re-opened ; and, as such men are 

 generally far removed from medical aid, 

 it is well that they should know the best 

 thing to do when anyone is bitten, and 

 that the means to be adopted should be 



as clearly and widely made known as 

 possible. Unfortunately, as far as inter- 

 nal remedies are concerned, investi- 

 gations by competent authorities go to 

 pvove, as will be more fully explained 

 later on, that to be armed with a reliable 

 antidote is not nearly such a simple 

 matter as the correspondent mentioned 

 seems to think. He has been informed 

 that the poison of the deaf adder acts 

 on the nerves, while that of the black, 

 brown, and other venomous snake acts 

 on the blood ; and suggests that the 

 miner be made familiar with a specific 

 for each class of bite of such a nature 

 that he could be provided with it, and 

 raadyfoi any emergency. Dr. A. Muller, 

 however, in his work on " Snake Poison: 

 Its Action and its Antidote," came to 

 the conclusion, after full investigation 

 and experiment, that all snake venom is 

 a nerve poison ; but Professor Martin, 

 who, when in Australia, also made a 

 study of the subject, seems to draw 

 some distinction, inasmuch as he refers 

 to the futility of the generally accepted 

 remedies to prevent the clotting of 

 blood caused by all Australian snake 

 poisons except that of the deaf adder. 

 Dr. Muller advocated the strychnine 

 cure as a remedy in all cases of snake- 

 bite ; but, as he admits that it may be 

 necessary at some stage of the treat- 

 ment to administer strychnine in doses 

 which, in the absence of the snake poi- 

 son, would be fatal, it will be seen how 

 dangerous it might be to try such a 

 remedy without professional aid, even 

 if later investigations had not consider- 

 ably discredited — as indeed they have — 

 this form of remedy, As to having the 

 right antidote available, it is true that 

 anti-venomous serum has been mention- 

 ed in this connection, but as one must 

 apply the right antidote to the right 

 snake, this remedy is hardly practical 

 under ordinary conditions. 



How to Distinguish Non-venomous 

 prom Venomous Snakes. 



In cases of snake-bite, it is, of course, 

 very important to determine whether 

 the reptile inflicting the injury is venom- 

 ous or not. Many persous have under- 

 gone much pain and often risk from 

 heroic treatment for bites which they 

 have supposed to be those of venomous 

 snakes, but which a knowledge of the 

 external characters of the different 

 species wonld have shown to have been 

 perfectly harmless. Indeed, it is believ- 

 ed that not a few persons bitten by 

 harmless snakes have been killed either 

 by fright or the treatment to which 

 they have been subjected ; while many 

 records of recovery under certain treat- 

 ment are unreliable on account of the 



