GO 
THE THANATQPHIDIA OF INDIA. 
middle of one niglit I was called out by Major IT., who informed 
me that one of his horse-keepers had been bitten by a snake, 
was very ill, and had been taken to the hospital, whither I at 
once proceeded. About fifteen minutes were said to have 
elapsed since the receipt of the injury before I saw the patient, 
who was then in a state of utter prostration and dreadful alarm 
at the idea of closely impending death ; he was covered with a 
cold clammy perspiration, had a rapid pulse, but the respiration 
was unimpeded. The bite was in the foot, but had been so 
pinched and pulled about that it was impossible to ascertain 
if it had been inflicted by fangs or not. The usual stimulant 
remedies, especially ammonia, were freely exhibited ; the man 
was kept moving about, but the symptoms after two hours re¬ 
mained much the same. I was then informed that this was 
the second time he had believed himself to be bitten by a 
venomous snake; on the first occasion he had been equally ill, 
but by some means it was ascertained that his antagonist had 
been a little mouse, of which when he had satisfied himself he 
got well. Finally, I became firmly convinced that he was only 
suffering from fear. I told his master so, who then asked if I 
had any objection to allowing a snake-charmer to try his 
remedies for the purpose of relieving his mind, as he persisted 
that he had been injured by a Cobra. I assented, several hours 
having now elapsed. Unfortunately, the appearance of the 
snake-charmer had exactly a contrary effect to soothing the 
patient, who argued I had given him up : there was now no 
hope, and he soon became worse. As it seemed probable his 
words might come true, I again took the case in hand: a good 
blister and galvanism with stimuli were required before he 
came round ; in fact, it was only by causing great bodily pain 
that I was able to draw his attention from his mental affection, 
as this in reality was. Doubtless most medical officers in India 
can recall such cases as the above to their recollection, or those 
of cholera in which fear has been the cause of death, or the 
latter has- only been prevented by such means as recorded in 
this instance. 
The following case is a very interesting and most graphic 
one of death caused by the bite of the Bungarus cceruleus , or 
Krait. It is reported by Dr. Thomson, of H.M.’s 7Gth 
'Regiment 
“ In July, 1865, while stationed at Hazareebaugh, I was roused 
one morning at 2.30 to see a young kitmutghar in my employ, 
said to have been bitten by a Krait. I found him half-sitting 
up, his head supported by an old Brahmin, who was holding 
some root to his nose, supposed to be an antidote, and small 
portions of which had been given to the boy to chew. I was 
told that the lad (aged about eighteen years) had been bitten 
on the tip of one of his fingers while asleep in the cook-house, 
that the pain of the wound awoke him, and he called for help. 
A Krait was immediately discovered in the cook-room, which 
was captured alive and put in a chatty. Fully half an hour 
had elapsed from the time he was bitten before I was called 
to him. Having ammonia in the house, I at once gave him a 
dose with brandy, and then proceeded to examine the wound. 
This I found to be one minute puncture on the top of a finger, 
with a small drop of congealed blood on it, such as would result 
from the prick of a very fine needle. The back of the hand 
was puffy and swollen, but the swelling did not extend beyond 
the wrist. The length of time which had elapsed since the bite 
was received rendered local treatment next to useless ; never¬ 
theless, I tied a ligature above the wrist, and rubbed liquor 
ammonise into the wound. The boy’s countenance was anxious, 
and his breathing short and hurried ; he complained of un¬ 
easiness and constriction across the chest. He evidently had 
no hope of recovery, as the moment he saw me he exclaimed— 
‘Salaam, Sahib, ham jata! ham jatal Finding the pulse 
becoming smaller and surface getting cold, I applied sinapisms 
to the cardiac and epigastric regions, to the calves of the legs 
and the inside of thighs, at the same time giving ammonia and 
brandy in full doses about every ten minutes. About 3.30 a.m. 
he began to get drowsy; up to this time he had been quite 
conscious. I then had him walked about smartly by a couple 
of men, until finding that he was losing all power over his 
limhs, I had him placed on a charpoy, and endeavoured to 
excite consciousness by slapping the calves of the legs, thighs, 
buttocks, arms, &c., and by applying the button cautery along the 
spine. All was of no avail; the breathing became stertorous, 
pupils fixed, and complete coma established. He had one or 
two slight convulsions, and about 5 a.m. expired, being two and 
a half hours after I first saw him, and three hours from the 
time he was said to have been bitten. No post-mortem was 
made. About four hours after death the body was swollen, 
abdomen distended, and frothy bloody mucus oozed from mouth 
and nostrils. I examined the Krait. It was about two and a 
half feet long, and its fangs were perfect. The above facts are 
given from memory, as I kept no notes of the case. Ivraits 
abound at Hazareebaugh. I killed several during my stay 
there, and so did many of my acquaintances.” 
I am indebted to Dr. J. Ewart for the following account of 
snake-bite. The cases were published in the Indian Medical 
Gazette of Nov. 1st, 1870 :— 
How the Bite of Snakes supposed to he Poisonous may he Cured. 
“I. About 11 o’clock on Saturday evening, Aug. 19th, a gen¬ 
tleman called upon me, bringing with him a native syce, who, 
he said, had about half-past seven p.m., or three and a half 
hours before, been bitten by a snake. The syce had gone out 
in attendance on this gentleman and his family in the evening. 
The history was that the man himself had seen the snake, 
which was said to be a small one, crawl over his foot. 
“ On examining the patient, I failed to find anything like a 
puncture. The man himself, when I saw him, was in such a 
state of utter prostration that he could not be got to answer a 
single question. On examining his pupils, pulse, and skin, I 
suspected that he was a habitual gunjah-smoker, and that he 
was in all probability suffering from a combination of gunjah 
and the dread or fear which supervenes when a man believes, 
as this man did, that he had been bitten by a venomous snake. 
The man was found all right next morning. Ammonia and 
stimulants, and pacing him up and down to keep him awake, 
were the measures adopted. On re-examination, there is not a 
vestige of a puncture, nor of the swelling and ecchymosis which 
soon succeed when the poison has penetrated below the skin. 
“ II. This morning, Aug. 22nd, on visiting the General Hos¬ 
pital, I was informed that one of the punkah-coolies had been 
bitten, about 8.30 the night before, by a Krait, whose venom 
is virulently poisonous. The man, it appears, had been sleeping, 
and on awaking he found something crawling over the right 
shoulder, and immediately experienced a stinging sensation 
about the middle of the acromion process. He was then under 
the impression that he had been bitten by a snake, and on pro¬ 
curing a light a very lively snake was captured. 
“ The site of the bite was examined by Mr. Knight, the Assis¬ 
tant Apothecary, who declares he discovered a small puncture, 
on which there was a small quantity of coagulated blood. He 
is also positive that the tissues around, to the size of a two- 
anna piece, were puffed and swollen. Patient’s pulse was irre¬ 
gular, and he was much alarmed and agitated; the surface of 
the body was cold; countenance anxious; pupils normal; quite 
conscious and intelligent; no dimness of vision, or vertigo. 
“ About four minutes after the man had been bitten, the part 
