40 
THE THANATOPIIIDIA OF INDIA. 
bites, but a little bigger. The following made into a paste 
was then applied to the wounds :— 
Pulv. ipecac., 
Liq. ammon., ^j. M. 
Slight rigidity and occasional spasms continued all day, with 
irritability of the stomach. Brandy was freely administered 
with the cannabis ind. mixture, and the following draught was 
ordered to be taken at 9 p.m. :— 
]po Morphise hydr., gr. J. 
Aquae, Jj. 
May 25/A—-Had a tolerable night; a remission of all the 
symptoms; on the whole seemed better; slight spasms on 
moving or attempting to sit up in bed. Mixture continued, 
and the draught ordered to be repeated at bedtime. At about 
6 p.m. was seized with violent spasms, which continued with 
occasional slight remissions for an hour, when the patient ex¬ 
pired. Death ensued seventy-one hours after the bites. Cada¬ 
veric rigidity set in about three hours after death. No post¬ 
mortem was made. The natives believe that the use of brandy 
in Captain S.’s case prolonged his life so long. Death usually 
ensues, they say, in from two to twenty-four hours. 
The following case is referred to in a paper by Dr. T. Cantor 
in the “ Transactions of the Zoological Society of London,” vol. 
ii. p. 303. It is taken from the statistical report on the health 
of the navy in the East Indian stations for 1837 and the six 
following years :— 
“ The other death in this vessel (H.M.S. Algerine) requires a 
more lengthened notice. On Oct. 9th, while the ship lay at 
anchor in the Madras Roads, a water snake was caught, 
measuring seven feet six inches long, and six inches and a half 
in girth at the thickest part. After the patient had handled 
the reptile for some time, it suddenly bit him on the inside of 
the index finger of the right hand, inflicting a wound resembling 
that caused by the point of a pin. Fie declined having the 
wound fomented, having been bitten by reptiles of the same 
kind, as he supposed, in the Straits of Malacca, without any 
bad consequences. At 8 a.m., half an hour after the infliction 
of the wound, he made a good breakfast, dressed, and about ten 
o’clock went on deck. After taking a few turns he was 
suddenly seized with vomiting, the matter ejected being of a 
dark brown colour, resembling coffee grounds and of a very 
offensive odour. After a short time his pulse became small, 
variable, and intermitting, and the pupils were dilated, but 
contracted steadily by the stimulus of light. The left side of 
the face was slightly paralysed. There was subsultus tendinum, 
and the skin was covered with a cold clammy perspiration, the 
countenance was anxious and indicative of much distress. In 
consequence of the spasmodic actions of the muscles of the 
glottis, he breathed with great difficulty ; the integuments from 
the wound to the wrist were slightly swollen, and on the right 
side of the neck and face they presented a mottled appearance 
of dark purple and livid colour. A ligature having been 
placed above the wrist, and fomentations applied to the 
hand, a liniment composed of turpentine, liquor ammonias, and 
olive oil was rubbed on the throat and neck. He made fre¬ 
quent attempts to swallow a mixture containing liquor ammonise 
and tinct. opii, but failed. At 10.20, in consequence of the 
spasmodic action of the muscles of the glottis, he was put into 
a warm bath, which apparently relieved the symptoms and 
enabled him to take a dose of the mixture, which caused him 
to vomit a dark ropy fluid. About twenty minutes after coming 
out of the bath (in which he remained ten minutes) the 
spasmodic action of the muscles of the neck and throat became 
more severe and the whole body assumed a purple colour. The 
breathing became very difficult from the obstruction caused by 
a dark brown substance which came away in a stringy form 
from the air passages. By eleven o’clock he was in a state of 
coma; the pupils were contracted, and the pulse imperceptible 
at the wrist. At 11.20, not quite four hours from the time he 
was bitten, he died. It does not appear that any post-mortem 
examination of the body took place. It will be remarked that 
the symptoms in this case very much resembled those produced 
by the bite of a rabid animal, although they were much more 
violent and more speedily fatal.” 
The following cases are noted by the Civil Surgeon of Chye- 
bassa, Singbhoom -.— 
Dooroo, a Dhome female, aged twenty-two years, basket- 
maker, was bitten about 4 a.m. on June 4th, 1870. She was 
sleeping under a tree near a tank, and was awoke by the snake 
coiling itself round her leg. She shook it off, but was bitten 
in the upper part of the calf of the leg, near the ham. The 
snake was described as the Bungarus cceruleus, or Krait, of the 
length of the arm, called there “ Clieeta.” The symptoms are 
not noted, but she died in three and a half hours. The body 
was examined. Lungs natural. Right cavities of heart filled 
with fluid and soft coagulated dark blood. Left cavities con¬ 
tained fluid blood. Vessels full of fluid blood. The abdominal 
viscera were natural. The stomach contained a little frothy 
fluid. Small intestines of a light reddish tint. Brain and 
membranes highly congested. Cadaveric rigidity uncertain. 
Thugnee Bhooga, female, aged fifty, was bitten at 6 a.m. 
on June 20th, 1870, in Chyebassa, by a snake which was not 
recognised. She was asleep when she felt the bite on the foot; 
awoke, and saw the snake glide away. There was a single 
puncture on the dorsum of one foot, but there were no other 
symptoms nor any evil consequences. A dose of liquor am¬ 
monias was given at the thannah. It is of course very doubtful 
whether the snake was venomous. 
I am indebted to Assistant-Surgeon Kali Padu Gfuptu, 24th 
Regt. P.N.I., Umritsur, for the two following interesting cases 
of snake-bite (probably the snakes were Bungarus cceruleus) in 
which recovery after hsematuria and luemoptysis occurred:— 
“On the evening of Sept. 10th Sepoy Jumetlia Sing was 
bitten by a snake in the inner border of the right foot, while 
he was returning from the latrines. Fie immediately ran to 
the regimental hospital which was close by, and said that a 
black snake about three feet long had bitten him. The native 
doctor examined the foot and found three small punctures from 
which there was a slight oozing of blood. He first applied a 
tight ligature above the ankle, and then touched the punctures 
with argenti nitras. He watched the man for upwards of two 
hours, during which no symptoms of drowsiness or stupor were 
developed. He was perfectly conscious and made no complaint, 
except of the pain caused by the tight ligature. He was then 
left alone to sleep, which he could not, perhaps through fear. 
The next morning the whole foot and the leg as far as the calf 
became swollen, hot, and very painful, so much so that he could 
not bear the slightest touch. He complained of pain over the 
region of the kidneys, and said he was passing red urine, which 
to the naked eye appeared black—being as it were a solution of 
black venous blood. (The specific gravity and other clinical 
characters could not be noted for want of the requisite apparatus.) 
He further complained of great prostration and weakness. I 
prescribed some diuretics with ten drops of the tinctura ferri 
muriatis, which did not seem to have the slightest influence on 
the character of the urine, which continued black as before. 
The swelling gradually subsided, and disappeared in four or 
