OF SNAKES ON THE HUMAN BODY. 
79 
“ The pain and burning sensation of his arm continued three hours, he became more and more restless, and 
as the pill had not operated, a second pill was given. The inquietude greatly increased, and he was seized with 
a delirium, accompanied with spasms. 
« In this alarming state, a third pill was given, about an hour after the second. A vomiting and purging 
immediately succeeded in so violent a degree, that in the morning, when I saw him, he was hardly able to 
stand : but he was free from pain, and complained only of weakness. He took a pill two mornings following ; 
after which he was well, and in four days able to do his duty/’ 
Mr. DufTm favoured me also with the following case, communicated to him in a letter from Mr. James 
Ramsay, assistant surgeon to the third regiment of cavalry, dated November 10, 1786, from the cantonment 
near Arcot. 
Case III.-“ A Dubash belonging to Cornet M’Gregor of the cavalry, was bitten in the toe by a snake, 
which, from his description, appeared to be the Cobra de Capello. A few drops of blood issued from the part, 
and he was sensible instantly of pain. When he came to me, about half an hour after the accident, the pain had 
advanced as high as the joint of his knee. I immediately prepared, and gave him one of the snake pills as directed ; 
and, that no part of the prescription might be omitted, the liver of a frog was applied to the wound. In the 
course of ten minutes after giving the first pill, the pain had got to the top of his thigh, and became much more 
severe; I then gave him two more pills, and ordered a bottle of Madeira to be warmed. Of this he drank 
about two cupfulls, but a part only remained on the stomach. The patient now complained of severe pains in 
his belly, which upon examination appeared tense, and much swelled. A sense of tension, or tightness, spread¬ 
ing fast towards the breast, and respiration becoming extremely laborious, an attempt was made to make him 
take two pills more ; but deglutition being impeded, a part of them only reached the stomach, and was imme¬ 
diately rejected. From this time the stricture on the oesophagus increased so much, that nothing could be forced 
clown his throat; he foamed at the mouth ; his eyes stood staring and fixed ; his pulse and respiration became 
hardly perceptible ; and, in short, every vital motion seemed at a stand. I applied spirits of hartshorn to his 
mouth and nostrils, by which, in a few minutes, a strong sneeze being excited, he immediately began to breathe, 
and soon pronounced the word better. After he had recovered a little, he told me “ he felt the pain descending 
retrograde, in the same track in which it had arisen and expressed a strong desire to sleep. He slept for a 
quarter of an hour, and, upon his awaking, vomited plentifully. He had now recovered his senses, and said he 
felt only a little pain in his foot, which at last descended to his toe : and, in the course of two hours more, he ' 
was able to walk home ; but did not recover the fatigue for some days. 
“ I suppose the vomiting to have been occasioned by the pills, the effects of which, however, did not seem to 
be so violent as they are commonly said to be. The man told me, he only felt them make his stomach a little 
warm.” 
The three cases following were communicated to me, by Captain Gowdie, in a letter dated from Rajahmun- 
drah, March 20, 1788. 
Case IV.-F A Havildar in Captain Gowdie’s battalion, a man fifty years of age, was bitten by a snake on 
the little toe of the right foot, about one in the morning, in the guard-room. He was not, at the instant, sensible 
of much more pain than what is occasioned by the bite of a large ant, and lay down to sleep. At daylight, 
when the guard turned out to ground arms, he was found almost stiff, yet still retained the power of speech, and 
declared he should inevitably die in consequence of the bite. He complained very little of pain ; but seemed to 
suffer a general stupor ; he had totally lost his sight, and expired before seven in the morning.” 
Case V.-“ A Sepo}'' of the same battalion was bitten, by the same snake, on the inside of his left wrist, 
within a minute after the Havildar. He also complained less of pain than of drowsiness, and went to sleep. Upon 
getting up at daylight, he complained of a dimness of sight, and was ordered by the black doctors to be led about, 
and to be kept in motion. 
“ At eight o’clock in the morning, upon examining the wrist, I could perceive two small punctures, about 
the eighth of an inch from each other. At ten o’clock, he had lost his sight entirely, and was unable to keep 
