184 
A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS. 
be placed far enough from them and of sufficient depth to ensure a 
good hold. 
[d) Dress the wound. — Dressings should be applied where an 
animal can be kept quiet and prevented from removing them. The 
object of dressing is to keep the wound clean, to prevent exposure 
to the air, entrance of dust, micro-organisms, flies and to provide a 
means of applying certain medicaments (^^-^ Formulae 121, 125 to 
I 29 and 64 to 6g). 
In any wound where much pain is evinced the following may be 
employed to allay this : — 
Acetate of lead ... 4 grs. 
Acetate of morphia ... 2 grs. 
Water ... ... 2 ozs. 
In a neglected sore there may be maggots which may be actually 
seen, or suspected by applying the nose close to the wound, when 
there is usually a foetid odour and a dirty offensive thin discharge. 
When seen they must be removed with forceps ; if only a small 
opening exists, it should be opened up and the maggots cleared out. 
and subsequently the wound dressed with carbolic acid lotion (i in 
40). Some elephants will not permit much handling, others insist 
on removing dressings, blowing in dirt, etc. ; and when wounds exist 
in such animals, to avoid the entrance of flies, dikamali ointment 
(the resin from the Gardenia hicida)^ a common bazaar drug 
(Formula 130), or powdered camphor dissolved in spirit and mixed 
with sweet-oil, or equal parts of turpentine and sweet-oil, should 
be very frequently applied. The above-named drugs will also remove 
maggots from wounds. 
Poisoned wounds. — These include snake-bite, stings of insects, 
and wounds inflicted by tigers. 
In the case of hornet stings, apply dilute ammonia. 
Snake-bite. — I have heard of three cases of elephants said to 
have been bitten by cobras ; no case proved fatal, though one was 
reported to have been in a precarious condition for twenty-four hours. 
When elephants die suddenly Burman mahouts invariably report 
the cause of death as due to snake-bite. I think I am correct in 
stating that quite a large number of deaths amongst elephants in this 
Province are attributed to snake-bite. I have never seen a case 
proved nor have I met anyone who has. Owners should not accept 
such reports unless there is ample proof. The poisonous snakes 
likely to be met with in heavy jungle are — 
(1) Hamadryad (c$giic?§cjc5), rare. 
(2) Cobra (g^goodoS), rare. 
(3) Green pit viper (G[g85s), a common tree viper the bite of 
which however is very rarely fatal even to human beings. 
