SNAKE BITE AND ITS ANTIDOTE. 
553 
bandage or ligature can be made by tearing up a shirt and using 
two or three thicknesses of the material, an inelastic suspender 
will answer, pieces of a handkerchief may he used, or if in the 
woods, a strip of bark from a sapling can be hastily slit off and 
applied. A leather strap or thong is better than anything else, 
hut even long grass rolled together so as to form a cord may be 
used in an emergency. In applying the band or ligature of what¬ 
ever nature, it should be started about six inches above the bite 
and the turns made to run downward toward the puncture, and 
should be wrapped so tightly as to cause the injured limb to be¬ 
come turgid with venous blood. Having fastened it securely, a 
number of cross cuts should be made through the points of the 
puncture from the snake’s fangs, deep enough to pass down into 
the muscular tissue, taking care to avoid veins which will be seen 
standing prominently forth, and bleeding from the cuts can be 
encouraged by rubbing the limb gently up and down below the 
ligature. A wide-mouthed bottle or similar utensil, from which 
the air has been driven forth by burning some whiskey or a piece 
of paper in it, should be applied to the wound and it will act as 
a cupping glass ; or still better, let the bite be sucked by the pa¬ 
tient himself, if he can get at it, or have some courageous friend 
with a healthy mouth perform this act for him. The pulse should 
be felt, and if it weakens, showing that possibly a portion of 
venom is reaching the general system, [notwithstanding the con¬ 
stricting band, whiskey should be given in moderate quantities. 
From time to time the band should be slightly loosened and then 
replaced so as to admit of partial circulation, but as the heart 
flags, the stimulant must again be administered. It is no use to 
make the patient drunk, for alcoholic liquors are not antidotes; 
in any sense they simply act as a tonic to the failing circulation. 
The writer has been informed by a gentleman, long resident 
in Texas, that the plan proposed has been constantly employed in 
that State ; and that few deaths result there from the bite of 
venomous snakes. Of course it will be understood that these 
suggestions are intended to meet sudden emergencies, and not to 
take the place of treatment by intelligent bystanders or physi¬ 
cians. Under all circumstances the ligating band should be tirst 
