CASES OF SNAKE-BITE. 
47 
live clays. The lisematuria lasted ten days, and then stopped 
of itself. After the swelling had gone down and the lisematuria 
had ceased, he began to feel better and to regain his usual health. 
He was discharged quite well on Sept. 23rd.” 
“ The second case was that of E. P., an East Indian Clerk, 
who was bitten by a snake in the right foot at the inner ankle. 
He had tied two ligatures, one of cloth, and another of cord, 
before I was called to see him. When I arrived, I saw him 
surrounded by a number of people, one of whom was muttering 
some incantations and moving a bunch of some leaves from above 
downwards; another was putting a piece of stone, said to have 
been taken out of the head of a very venomous snake, to the 
wound, and expecting thereby to extract the poison. I began 
to ask him a few questions about the snake, the time and place 
where he had been bitten, how he was then feeling, and so on. 
In the meantime the muttering of incantations had ceased, and 
the piece of stone dropped off, showing, according to the charmer’s 
own admission, that it had taken no effect. I then incised the part 
where I had found three small punctures slightly bleeding, and 
touched it with argenti nitras. As the person had not by this 
time felt drowsy or sleepy, or in any way queer, I undid one of 
the ligatures altogether, and loosened the other. This was done 
after more than an hour had elapsed since the bite. I remained 
with him half an hour more, and having found no symptoms 
of poisoning, left him. Before leaving I told him to take a 
glass of brandy or some kind of spirit and go to bed. As 
might have been expected, he could not sleep during the 
night. I saw him the next morning; the foot and leg had 
become swollen and painful, as in the other case. He told me 
he had been spitting black blood, and showed me handkerchiefs 
and cloths all stained. He asked me to prescribe some medi¬ 
cine to arrest the haemorrhage; I refused, and explained to him 
my reasons, saying that his blood had been poisoned, and nature 
was expelling it through one of the outlets. I suppose he was 
not well pleased, so he sent for the Civil Surgeon, who prescribed, 
I believe, some kind of gargle. I watched the case, however, 
with great interest. On the fifth day there was a good deal of 
haemorrhage from the wound itself, which opened and poured 
forth black venous blood. It stopped of itself. The swelling 
had by that time gone down, and the spitting of blood decreased. 
He suffered for about ten days, after which he felt all right. 
He killed the very snake which bit him, and which he believes 
was the last snake in the compound of his house, and showed 
it me. I asked him to send it to Dr. Taylor, who told me he 
would send it down to Calcutta for inspection. 
“Now the question arises, was the snake or snakes (though 
from the similarity of the symptoms in the two cases I am in¬ 
clined to believe it was the same kind of snake) poisonous ? 
The profuse haemorrhage and great prostration of strength 
seem to point to the existence of poison. If this fact be estab¬ 
lished by the examination of the snake, the following observa¬ 
tions may be made:—1. As both the persons were g’rown-up 
adults, they did not succumb to the poison, either because the 
bite was not so effectual as to kill, or the amount of poison in 
this particular snake was not powerful enough to destroy adult 
life. 2. And if the latter view be correct, then it will be inte¬ 
resting to ascertain by observation the effect of the bite of the 
snake on children, or on some of the lower animals, as fowls, 
dogs, cats, &c. 3. That in partially successful bite or bites by 
slightly venomous snakes, haemorrhage of black venous blood 
seems to be nature’s method of cure.” 
I am indebted to Major C. A. McMahon, Officiating Com¬ 
missioner of Hissar, for the following very interesting account 
of a case of death from the bite of JBungurus cwuleus , in which 
lisematuria was a prominent symptom, and where life seems 
to have been prolonged by the internal administration of 
stimulants. Major McMahon writes : _ 
u T .r -r. -n “Hissar, Oct. 17th. 
My dear Dr. Fayrer,— 
“ I enclose an interesting account of a death from snake 
bite. Mr. D-, a Customs’ patrol, was bitten on Aug. 31st 
(evening) and did not die until 11 a.m. on Sept. 3rd, having 
been kept up by ammonia and brandy all that time. The case 
is interesting because Mr. D- had skilful treatment from 
the first, and the most approved remedies appear to have been 
applied. Mr. D-became perfectly insensible almost imme¬ 
diately after he was bitten, showing that the poison was 
powerful and active, and yet he was restored not only to con¬ 
sciousness by the internal administration of ammonia and 
brandy, but he became sufficiently well to do some work and 
sign some official papers (the latter fact is not mentioned in the 
accounts I send you). The influence of the poison having been 
checked for so long, one would hardly have anticipated a fatal 
termination about sixty-three hours after the poison was received 
into the system. It almost seems as if when a man is fairly 
bitten by a full-grown Cobra or Krait stimulants only postpone 
the fatal hour. The case is an interesting one, and I shall be 
glad to have your opinion on it. The snake was evidently a 
Krait. How ignorant men are of what snakes are deadly and 
what are not! Mr. D-surely did not know. 
“ Yours, &c., 
“ C. A. McMahon. 
“P.S.-—The two accounts I enclose are by Mr. Edwardes, 
District Superintendent of Police, Kohtuk, and the Sub-Assis- 
tant-Surgeon of Hansi. I think they give, taken together, a 
very full, complete, and accurate account of the case. 
“ Account of the Case of Mr. I) - by Mr. F. 0. Edwardes. 
“ ‘On Aug. 31st, 1871, I was on my tour of inspection at 
Police Station Mahim, in this District, and on the Customs’ 
Line. A Mr. D-, an assistant patrol, went out patrolling 
on foot in slippers in the evening, and returned at 8.30 p.m. 
As he entered the gate of the compound he was bitten on the 
instep hy a small snake, a Korite, or Karite, or Kerite. He had 
time to kill the snake with his slipper; it was about two 
feet long, of a yellowish colour, with blackish stripes across its 
back. On Mr. D-being bitten he called out to the guard 
at the thuk, or weighing-house, to bring a lattice, and by the 
time the man reached a distance of not one hundred yards 
Mr. D -was insensible ; they brought him to me at 8.30 p.m., 
or a few minutes after he was bitten, with the part bitten 
bleeding and a string tied under his knee, which I fancy he 
himself tied. I gave him ammonia and brandy in a wineglass, 
cut the part where he was bitten with a penknife and rubbed 
ammonia into it. On my giving him the second or third dose 
and rubbing his foot with ammonia and having him walked 
about, he came round, and at 9 p.m. was all right and perfectly 
sensible. I still kept walking hitn about and giving him small 
doses of ammonia at short intervals, first with brandy, and after¬ 
wards without, as he did not like the brandy. About 10 p.m. 
I allowed him to sit down in a chair; he then became a little 
sick, but came round again. I left him at 11 p.m. perfectly 
sensible, and the only thing he complained of was a pain in his 
leg. I was obliged to come into Kohtuk, and was myself 
unwell. Shortly after Mr. D-was brought in, and after he 
came round, I thought it as well to send for the Customs Native 
Doctor at Plansi, and wrote him a purwanah ordering him to 
come to Mahim at once ; and on my reaching Kohtuk I wrote to 
Mr. D-’s brother, telling him of the case and advising him to 
go out. He went out on Sept 1 st, and tells me found his brother 
very well, but complaining of the leg being tied up and wishing 
to open it. He remained perfectly sensible and well that day, 
