SNAKE BITE AND ITS ANTIDOTE. 
219 
Dr. Davy, in 1839, published an account of some experi- 
ments with the poisouous snakes of Ceylon, but his studies pos- 
sess little, if any, practical value. 
From this period until 1860 nothing of importance was pub¬ 
lished regarding antidotes to serpent venom, although it should 
be mentioned that various papers on the subject of reptiles and 
their venom had been published from time to time by such ob¬ 
servers as Dr. Barton, Mangili, Prince Lucien Bonaparte, Ber¬ 
nard Gratiolet and others. Brainard and Green recorded their 
researches in 1853, the former publishing a separate essay 
in 1854. * 
In 1860 the Smithsonian Institution accepted for publication 
a work which has become classic, and which appeared in Janu¬ 
ary, 1861. It was entitled u Researches upon the Venom of the 
Rattlesnake, with an Investigation of the Anatomy and Physiol¬ 
ogy of the Organs Concerned,” by S. Weir Mitchell, M.D.; and 
this quarto of 117 pages has done more to advance our positive 
knowledge of crotalus venom than any previous publication. 
The conclusion reached by Dr. Mitchell, as a result of his studies 
so far as antidotes were concerned, was that none of those in re¬ 
ports were reliable. About the same time that the work already 
mentioned was passing through the press, a paper by the same 
author, entitled “ On the Treatment of Rattlesnake Bite, with 
Experimental Criticisms upon the Various Remedies now in 
Use,” appeared in the North American Medico-Chirurgical Re¬ 
view , 1861, V., 269, and gave theresultsof numerous experiments 
with so-called antidotes, and in summing up the author recom¬ 
mends no special plan of treatment, but advises the ligature, or 
excision, or both, with the administration of stimulants ; in short, 
the general symptoms are to be treated according to the indi¬ 
cations. 
Another essay by the same author appeared in the New York 
Medical Journal, 1868, entitled “Experimental Contributions to 
the Toxicology of Rattlesnake Venom,” and in this Dr. Mitchell 
corrected some of his views published in previous papers. 
Following the essays of Mitchell in 1872 came the magnifi¬ 
cent folio work of Dr. Joseph Fayrer, of Calcutta, entitled “ The 
