Miscellaneous. 



340 



[October, 1911, 



the fang may not penetrate sufficiently 

 far for the poison which passes down its 

 groove to be injected beneath the skin. 

 There is a very widely accepted belief 

 that the deaf adder inflicts injury by a 

 sting from its tail, but this is not the 

 case. 



The general symptoms exhibited by 

 persons bitten by a venomous snake are: 

 Great anxiety, depression and postra- 

 tion, feeble and intermitting pulse, pro- 

 fuse cold sweats, vomiting, hurried respi- 

 ration, indistinct speech, dilation of the 

 pupil of the eye, drowsiness, and finally, 

 in tatal cases, unconsciousness and con- 

 vulsions. 



Treatment op Snake-Bite. 

 Professor Martin, late of the Mel- 

 bourne University, who some time ago 

 was appointed Director of the Lister 

 School of Preventive Medicine in 

 London, before leaving Melbourne, 

 delivered a lecture embodying the 

 results of several years of research into 

 Australian snake poisons. The results 

 of his investigations are somewhat dis- 

 appointing as far as the generally accept- 

 ed remedies are concerned, fle says, 

 tin j for all snakes except the deaf adder 

 the only remedy that is of the slightest 

 use is the ligature, applied immediately. 

 He adds— 



" If the bite be on the tip of the 

 finger, the ligature may be tied round 

 the base of the finger, if done instantly. 

 If not, we must go higher. It is no use 

 tying anything round the wrist or fore- 

 arm, nor round the leg below the knee, 

 for in these places the limb consists of 

 two bones, and the circulation cannot 

 be stopped by a band of any sort. We 

 must go above the elbow or above the 

 knee, where there is only a single bone. 

 The ligature must be tied as tight as 

 possible— twisted tight with a stick— for 

 no blood must pass. In half an hour's 

 time the ligature may be removed, 



" All the usual remedies, such as 

 ammonia, strychnine, and chloride of 

 lime injections, whisky, and exercise, 

 are powerless to check the clotting of 

 blood caused by all Australian snake 

 poisons except the deaf adder. Catting 

 out the piece and gashing the limb to 

 make it bleed is equally futile. Anti- 

 venomous serum is a remedy, but hardly 

 a practical one, as you must apply the 

 right antidote to the right snake." 



Other authorities do not go so far as 

 Professor Martin with regard to scari- 

 fying the wound and administering 

 stimulants, and, so far as they are not 

 likely to be injurious, these means will 

 probably pontinue to be followed as 



extra precautions. Dr. J. Ashburton 

 Thompson, Chief Medical Officer of the 

 Government Health Department of 

 New South Wales, has issued specific 

 directions for snake-bite treatment. He 

 first advices the use of the ligature, 

 which is to be loosened for five minutes 

 after the first half-hour ; then tied and 

 screwed up again. At the end of 

 the second half-hour the ligature may 

 be removed altogether. Dr. Thompson, 

 in continuing his directions, says: — 

 "In places where a ligature cannot 

 be tied, as on the neck or face, pinch 

 up the bitten part between the finger 

 and thumb, and cut it out. In any 

 case the bitten part should be cut 

 into by numerous little cuts over and 

 around the bite, for about 1| inches 

 round, and sucked by the mouth freely 

 and perseveringly ; and this can be done 

 without danger by any person. Stimu- 

 lants, such as brandy, whisky, gin, rum, 

 in small quantities at a time (a few tea- 

 spoonfuls), or strong tea or coffee or 

 wine, may be given if the patient be 

 faint." 



The removal of the ligature as describ- 

 ed is a very necessary precaution, for at 

 least one case has occurred in Queens- 

 land where, through keeping it on too 

 long, mortification set in, and amputa- 

 tion of the arm had to be resorted to. 



Professor Krefft, in his work previous- 

 ly referred to, says : — " The whole treat- 

 ment resolves itself into this : Suck the 

 wound, if possible, at once ; apply a 

 ligature ; lacerate the punctures, and 

 wash the part with water or urine ; keep 

 moving, and do not despond. Half the 

 number of fatal cases have resulted from 

 fear, many persons having died simply 

 because they lost heart, did not attempt 

 to tie a ligature, or were afraid to lacer- 

 ate the wound and suck it." 



A Croydon paper some time ago pub- 

 lished particulars of* a case in which a 

 cure had been effected by rubbing 

 vinegar into the wound ; but in this case 

 the ligature was first applied and the 

 wound scarified. The vinegar was used 

 in consequence of the person treating 

 the patient having seen an extract in 

 the Queensland Agricultural Journal 

 from an Indian paper, which described 

 experiments successfully made with it 

 on animals which had been bitten by 

 snakes, 



Mr. John Wilson, Brisbane, says that 

 in Ceylon he was very successful in 

 saving the lives of coolies who were 

 bitten by cobras or tic-polangas when 

 picking coffee, As soon as a man was 

 bitten, a ligature was put on above the 

 wound, then a pin was pushed through 



