244 
ON  SYRUP  OF  ELDERBERRIES. 
give  warning  even  with  his  rattles.  The  smallest  king-snake 
was  afterwards  inoculated  with  the  poison  of  one  of  the  serpents 
he  had  destroyed,  and  died  immediately  after — thus  evincing 
that  they  must  have  exercised  some  power  besides  physical  force 
to  overcome  their  fellow-creatures. 
In  short,  the  results  of  a  great  number  of  experiments  performed 
with  the  venom  of  a  great  variety  of  serpents,  seem  to  lead  to 
the  following  conclusions : 
1st.  That  the  venom  of  all  serpents  acts  as  a  poison  in  a  similar 
manner. 
2d.  That  the  venom  of  some  varieties  is  far  more  active  than 
that  of  others. 
3d.  That  a  variety  of  the  colluber,  known  as  the  cotton-mouth, 
is  the  most  venomous  serpent  in  Arkansas. 
4th.  That  the  venom  of  serpents  destroys  all  forms  of  organized 
life,  vegetable  as  well  as  animal. 
5th.  That  alcohol,  if  brought  in  contact  with  the  venom  is,  to 
a  certain  extent,  an  antidote. 
6th.  That  serpents  do  possess  the  power  of  fascinating  small 
animals,  and  that  this  power  is  identical  with  mesmerism. 
7th.  That  the  blood  of  small  animals,  destroyed  by  the  venom 
of  serpents,  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  that  of  animals  destroyed 
by  lightning  or  hydrocyanic  acid ;  it  loses  its  power  of  coagula- 
tion and  cannot  be  long  kept  from  putrefaction. — St.  Louis 
lied,  and  Surg.  Jou7\,  Jan.  1854. 
SYRUP  OF  ELDERBERRIES  (SAMBUCUS  CANADENSIS)  AS  A  SUB- 
STITUTE FOR  THE  COMPOUND  SYRUP  OF  SARSAPARILLA. 
By  William  H.  Worthington,  M.D.,  of  West  Chester,  Pa. 
There  being  much  dissatisfaction  attending  the  use  of  the 
Compound  Syrup  of  Sarsaparilla  in  the  hands  of  some  phy- 
sicians, the  Syrup  of  Elderberries  was  recommended  to  my 
notice  by  Dr.  Benjamin  H.  Stratton,  of  Mount  Holly,  N.  J., 
who  for  some  years  has  been  in  the  habit  of  using  it  in  all  cases 
of  disease,  in  which  an  alterative  action  upon  the  system  was 
desired,  and  for  which  the  sarsaparilla  is  usually  employed.  In 
the  treatment  of  gout,  chronic  rheumatism,  eruptive  and  syphi- 
litic affections,  he  has  used  it  combined  with  the  iodide  of  potas- 
