CASES OF SNAKE-BITE. 
43 
the village of Bistopore. She was treated bj incantations and 
charms, and died ten hours after receiving the bite. The body 
was examined. The lungs were congested. The heart con¬ 
tained fluid blood. The kidneys were congested. The blood 
was fluid. The brain was normal. Cadaveric rigidity is said 
not to have been present when the post-mortem examination 
was made. 
Kadei Goallah, a Bengalee, aged twelve years, was bitten by 
a Keautiah ( N ,'. tripudians ) at noon of July 22nd, 1870, at the 
village of Ooriapara. He was treated as usual by incantations 
and charms, and died half an hour after receiving the bite. 
The body was examined. The lungs were normal. The heart 
contained fluid blood. The abdominal viscera were normal. 
The blood was fluid. The brain was normal. Cadaveric rigidity 
was not present. 
Debuarain Mundle, a male Hindoo, aged thirty years, was 
bitten by a snake (unknown) on July 20th, 1870, at the village 
of Bistopore. The only symptom noted is, that he complained 
of a burning pain. He was treated by liquor ammonias, but 
died six days after having been bitten. The body was examined. 
The lungs were normal. The heart and great vessels contained 
fluid blood. The abdominal viscera, with the exception of the 
kidneys, which were highly congested, were healthy and normal. 
The blood was fluid. The brain and nervous system normal. 
Cadaveric rigidity was not present when the examination was 
made. 
Bam Churn Bose, a male Hindoo, aged twenty-two years, 
was bitten by a snake (name not given, but probably a Krait), 
on the night of Oct. 13th, 1870, at Ekhulpore, in the suburbs 
of Calcutta. He is said to have complained of a burning pain 
in the bitten part. He was treated by incantations and charms, 
and died on Oct. 14th, eight hours after the bite. The body 
was examined. The lungs were normal. The heart and great 
vessels contained fluid blood. The kidneys were congested. 
The blood was fluid. The brain was normal. Cadaveric 
rigidity was not present when the post-mortem examination 
was made. 
I am also indebted to Air. Shircore for the following account 
of snake-poisoning affecting the infant through the mother’s 
milk:— 
II Case of snake-poisoning in which the mother died, and her 
infant, who was at the breast after the mother was bitten, died 
also from the poison. 
“ On July 16th, 1871, a woman named Gurra Dassee, residing 
in the village of Bughoohath, near Dum-Dum, in the district 
of twenty-four Pergunnahs, was aroused from a sound sleep at 
about 1 a.m. by a smarting sensation in the forefinger of her 
right hand, and thought that something had bitten her. She 
had at the time her infant—seven months old—by her side, and 
her husband, with her other children, was sleeping in the same 
room a little distance from her. She called out to her husband 
and told him what had happened; but feeling very drowsy, and 
receiving no answer from her husband, who is excessively deaf, 
she fell into a slumber, and while in that state allowed her 
infant to take her breast. Soon after this she began to ex¬ 
perience a painful sensation along her right arm, and a general 
restlessness of the whole body, and at the same time she 
observed that her child had likewise become very restless and was 
foaming at the mouth. Alarmed at this she got up and called 
her neighbours, who came immediately to her assistance. 
Nothing, however, was done in the way of treatment beyond re¬ 
peating “ muntros ” (chanting charms) to expel the poison from 
the body, which is the usual mode of treating cases of snake-bite 
m India. The consequence was that both mother and child 
became rapidly worse and died—the mother about four hours 
after she was bitten, and the child about two hours after she 
had taken the mother’s breast. The snake was not seen by 
any one, and no attempt was made by a search inside the room 
to ascertain what kind of snake had bitten the woman. Both 
the bodies were sent to me by the police, and were examined on 
the morning of July 17th. The face in both cases was livid 
and swollen, and there was an issue of bloody froth from the 
mouth and nostrils. In the forefinger of the right hand of the 
mother was a distinct mark of a snake-bite. The finger and 
the hand were considerably swollen, with discoloration of the 
soft parts. This was very marked in the finger, which, when 
dissected, appeared as though it had been severely bruised. 
The blood was quite fluid in both cases, and the organs were 
all more or less congested. The body of the child was care¬ 
fully inspected, but uot the slightest trace of a bite or any 
kind of injury could be detected in any part of it. The con¬ 
clusion drawn from the above facts is, that the mother died 
from the effects of the snake-bite, and the child was poisoned 
through her milk.” 
The following case, reported by native doctor Bisseshur Das, 
of the Jainser Dispensary, is forwarded by Mr. Cutcliffe, Offi¬ 
ciating Civil Surgeon of Dacca :— 
Shantomonee, a Brahmin, aged thirty-six years, was bitten 
by a large snake (name not known) on the foot, on the night 
of Sept. 7th, 1869. When she was admittted into the Jainser 
Dispensary, on Sept. 13th, the bitten part was sloughing and 
fetid, and erysipelatous inflammation is said to have existed as 
far as the thigh. The native doctor states that he applied 
strong caustic lotion and charcoal poultices to the injured part, 
and administered some tonic medicine. She was discharged on 
Sept. 29th, twenty-two days after receiving the bite. 
The following cases are recorded by Mr. Briscoe, Civil Medical 
Officer of Goalparah :— 
Bhanoo, an Assamese, aged eighteen years, was bitten on 
the foot during the afternoon of April 25th, by a snake, known 
to the natives as the “ Chokoriah Borah” (specific name not as¬ 
certained) while oil his way to work in the fields near the village 
of Brijase. He is said to have become insensible, vomited a 
blackish fluid, and to have died twenty-six hours after having 
been bitten. The body was not sent in for examination. The 
“ Chokoriah Borah” is possibly one of the Crotalidce. 
Jhaman, an Assamese boy, aged ten years, was bitten on the 
ankle at 10 a.m. on March 19th, at the village of Sachopanee, 
by a snake, the name of which could not be ascertained. His 
skin is said to have become bluish in colour. He was treated 
by the native Jharonah Ozalis (snake-charmers), but died on 
March 20tli, at 8 a.m., twenty-four hours after having been 
bitten. The body was not sent in for examination. 
Bhoog Chand, a Bengalee boy, aged eight years, while walk¬ 
ing through a rice-field was bitten on the foot by a snake 
known to the natives as the “ Chokoriah Borah” (specific .name 
unknown), on May 28th, 1870, at 9 a.m. His skin is said to 
have become bluish in colour. He was treated by the native 
Ozahs (snake-charmers), but died on May 29fcli, at 3 p.m., 
thirty-one hours after he was bitten. The body was not sent 
in for examination. 
