LX 
THE CURE FOR IVY POISONING 
I SN’T IT ODD that the poison that is injected by the 
rattlesnake when it strikes yields to the same treat¬ 
ment that is used for the venom rubbed on by poison ivy 
when one brushes against it in the woods! 
After many years of study the reptile specialists of the 
National Museum have come to the conclusion that the 
best cure for rattlesnake bite is potassium permanganate. 
This is a very ordinary drug that can be bought almost 
anywhere. It comes in the form of crystals. If these 
crystals can be rubbed into the snake-bite wound, they 
make certain chemical combinations with the poison, thus 
forming new substances that are harmless. The poison 
is neutralized. 
Man, in America, finds that he has a poison plant that 
is less deadly than the snake that injects its venom, but 
much more evil in the total amount of misery it causes. 
Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, which are 
closely related, exist in America, but nowhere else in the 
world. Their game is to secrete an oily sort of substance 
and to distribute it all over themselves, thus having it 
always ready for use. It is always on the outside, ready to 
make a smear on the hand of man. Or it may make a 
smear on his shoe or on his leggings, and that night, when 
he undresses, he may get this oil on his hands and from 
them to his face. 
In a few hours or days he begins to itch. Inflammation 
120 
