560 
ON POISONOUS REPTILES* 
53, very hard : took away six quarts of blood, and repeated the 
blister. 
9 th. —Appetite rather better; pulse still very wiry; extremities 
cold ; blisters discharge freely : took away six quarts of blood. 
10 th. —Rather better this morning: pulse 50, but fuller and 
softer; appetite improved; thirst not so great; seton discharges 
freely; poultice continued. 
12 th. —Rather costive ; slight degree of fever: pulse 50, but 
wiry, swelling reducing: took away five quarts of blood, and gave 
eight drachms of aloes. 
13 th. —Evidently recovering: thirst much abated; appetite 
good ; bowels regular; pulse down to 40, and soft: seton re¬ 
moved, and poultice discontinued. 
From this time to the 18th, the rapidity of her recovery was 
astonishing; and she is now (the 22d of August), quite well, 
having gained condition as rapidly as she lost it. There are no 
remains of the swelling. 
Remarks .—This was a case of (in my opinion) general inflame 
mation, or inflammatory fever, occasioned by continued rapid 
exertion in loading hay on the afternoon of the day preceding the 
attack; at which time she was not in a state fit for any extension 
of speed beyond a walk, having been for the five previous weeks 
in a very rich pasture, and not having performed any labour. You 
will doubtless, Mr. Editor, say, And what has all this to do with 
“ venomous reptiles ?” What it has to do with it, I will state. 
The owner of the horse, and all his neighbours, firmly believed that 
the mare had been bitten by some venomous snake, with which, 
they said, the pasture was infested. I thought I saw the cause in 
the exertion she had been compelled to make on the preceding 
day, and treated her as I have described. I have never seen a 
case of bite by a viper, and am alike ignorant of the symptoms and 
proper method of treatment. In denying this to be the kind of 
case they thought, I can assure you I felt, and felt acutely, my 
possible ignorance on the point: but the supposition, that in that 
ignorance I may not be alone, and being persuaded that profes¬ 
sional men should with knowledge be u armed at all points,” 
must be my excuse for troubling you with this. May I hope that 
you, or some of your talented correspondents, will favour us with 
the requisite information ? 
W e are very much inclined to be of the opinion of “ the wise 
men of the glen,” and to consider this as a case of “ envenom¬ 
ing,” The heat and swelling of the udder, and of one side only 
at first, and u the slight discharge from the side of the udder,” 
