Occasional Notes. 129 
that the person had been bitten by an ordinary poisonous 
snake under ordinary conditions. Special conditions, 
however, might make all the difference imaginable. A 
good deal depends on the kind of snake — its size, species 
and aftual condition at the time — on the nature, depth 
and condition of the bite, and on the individual bitten ; 
and what may have been a remedy, in one case, for a bite 
of but little danger, although from a poisonous snake, 
may prove of not the slightest use in case of a bite, even 
from the same snake, of serious importance. 
As specimens of u cures," I give the following two, for 
which I am indebted to Mr. H. J. PERKINS, to whom they 
were given at the Gold Diggings with the information 
that they had proved successful in this colony — one in a 
case of a bite from a Labarria. Mr. Perkins gave them to 
me simply as samples, having no real knowledge of them ; 
and I must confess that it would be interesting to know 
something more definite as to the cures effefted, and the 
method by which it was arrived at that these remedies 
were remedies. The simplicity of the remedies is admi- 
rable, though some of the ingredients might not, un- 
fortunately, be procurable in the bush. In the case of a 
bite from an undoubted poisonous snake, I certainly do 
not recommend the use of either of them, if it be possible 
to obtain ammonia or carbolic acid, and brandy or whisky, 
etc. Failing these known and useful remedies, there 
could be no harm in trying them, there might possibly 
be benefit. 
I, Take a table-spoonful of sugar ; mix with a wineglassful of water, 
and drink at once ; then take a large uninjured onion, strip off outer 
covering, and roast whole till of a deep brown colour ; break it up and 
apply hot to wound ; keep it in position for five hours with a tight 
bandage. 
R 
