Charles Stuart Moody

“ The treatment of a rattlesnake wound resolves itself into the application of a few very simple rules. In the first place a person wounded by a snake usually does the very thing he should not do—that is, goes tearing off at top speed for the nearest human habitation, thereby increasing the circulation and disseminating the virus through the system more rapidly. ”

“ Surgeons divide fractures into: simple, those where there is a simple separation of the bone without injury to the flesh; compound, where in addition to the separation of the bone there is laceration of the flesh and one or both ends of the bone are driven out through the skin; and comminuted, where the bone is in several fragments. A comminuted fracture may be either simple or compound, according as it does or does not penetrate the flesh. ”

“ The symptoms of fracture are pain, loss12 of motion, change of position, change of contour of the fleshy parts, and most important of all, a light crackling sound when the limb is moved—crepitation the surgeons call it.
Pain following an injury that might produce a fracture is not necessarily proof positive of the existence of a fracture. Pain may and often does follow a bruise, sprain, or dislocation, in a greater degree than that following a fracture. Loss of motion, too, is quite as marked in dislocations and severe sprains as in fractures. ”

“ This manner of administering drugs can be taken advantage of by the man who wishes to carry with him upon his outing a supply of remedies for the relief of such ailments as may befall him.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said in delivering an address to the graduating medical class of Harvard, "Young men, you have been taught here at least twenty remedies for every disease; after you have practiced medicine twenty years you will have one remedy for twenty diseases." ”

“ Fractures of the leg or thigh will entail an enforced stay of from four to six weeks in the woods, or the devising of some means to transport the patient to a place where he can have proper care, an arduous task in a country where there are no roads and the trails are difficult. If a personal experience may be allowed, I will tell how I once treated a man with fractured thigh and conveyed him with comparatively little discomfort over sixteen miles of rugged mountain trail and some forty miles of equally rugged mountain road. ”

“ It is rare, indeed, that a person concerns himself with the classification of the serpent that chances to cross his path. He immediately possesses himself of a stout club and proceeds to maul the unoffending reptile into the earth without troubling his mind to find out if the snake is harmless or otherwise. This is wrong, for when one comes to know 75them serpents are quite interesting. It is wrong, too, for with a little study the ordinary man can familiarize himself with the characteristic markings of the venomous serpents and differentiate them from those that are non-venomous. ”

“ The man who puts tobacco, flour, soap, or any other of the popular monstrosities on a wound is little short of a criminal.
While, theoretically, many people know32 that blood flowing in a steady stream is coming from a vein and that flowing in jets or spurts is coming from an artery, few know how to take advantage of that knowledge. The general rule to make pressure between the heart and the wound in case of a jet and between the wound and the extremity in case of a stream is only good as a general rule; there are exceptions and it is exceptions that make the rule dangerous. ”

“ How deep will the needle-sharp fangs penetrate. That depends, too, upon conditions. A large snake, striking from full coil, will naturally drive his fangs much deeper than another smaller, striking from a less advantageous position. Upon the bare flesh the snake will sink his fangs to their full extent. His blow, however, is often delivered with a raking motion and the wound inflicted resembles the scratch of a briar. ”

“ If the patient is breathing from twenty-five to thirty-five times per minute, the respiration being confined to one lung as indicated by the lack of expansion in the other, and if he lies so as to take the strain off the lung that does not expand, it is almost sure that the patient has pneumonia. In case the lung is fixed rigidly by the muscles and the opposite lung forced to do all the work, then the patient has pleurisy. ”

“ Every man should familiarize himself with certain physiological facts, and with these as guideposts he ought to be able to follow a train of indications to a reasonably fair diagnosis. The pulse rate, taken at the wrist, is generally a fair index of the condition of the body. The normal man has a pulse rate of about seventy-two beats per minute, women somewhat more rapid; high elevations also produce a more rapid pulse.
If there is an increase of heart beat above56 eighty per minute, accompanied by other subjective symptoms, it is an indication that something is wrong. ”

“ HOW TO TREAT FRACTURES, SPRAINS AND DISLOCATIONS Several years ago I stood beside a cot in a hunter's cabin in the heart of the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho, after a three days' ride, and watched a valuable young life go out as the result of an unattended compound fracture of the thigh. ”

“ In fact it is impossible for one to do so.
While rattlesnakes are dangerous, their bite is not nearly so fatal as is popularly supposed. This fact has at least two important reasons, viz., season and the habits of life of the snake. In the extreme South and in midsummer the venom attains its highest state of virulence. Then the person fairly struck by a large rattler is in extreme danger, provided the second factor in the equation does not intrude, that is, the habits of life.
All venomous snakes, and more especially rattlesnakes, are sluggish. They do not move rapidly or over great distances. ”

“ Having got your patient with the compound fracture into camp, cut off all clothing from the wounded limb, but no more. It is a bad plan to remove too much clothing from badly injured persons. All the warmth must be conserved, even to the extent of applying artificial heat. Examine the wound for foreign matter and carefully remove it, especially bits of clothing, leaves, small sticks, and bits of earth. ”

“ As before suggested, the efforts at restoration should be persisted in for a long time, until either success rewards your efforts or the body becomes quite cold and rigid. It may be that there is a little spark of life left and you may fan it into flame after hours of effort. ”

“ I want to add here that should you run out of sterilized gauze at any time you can make it from any soft cloth by boiling it for ten minutes in the bichloride solution and hanging in the air to dry.
The pain attendant upon any surgical manipulation can be prevented by the hypodermic injection of a solution of cocaine. When you get your hypodermic have the instrument man show you how it works. He can show you much better than I can tell it. Insert the needle half an inch from the wound and inject a few drops of the solution into the skin. ”

“ A little cut is worse than none; go deep enough to liberate the sliver so that it may be removed with the splinter forceps. Then wash41 the wound from the bottom with hot water and dress as before, using the bichloride.
Experience has proved that the less one attempts to do with gunshot wounds the better. Nature has a tendency to wall off foreign bodies that are in the main sterile and will ordinarily do so with a bullet if given a chance. Keep the patient quiet, prevent infection from entering the wound, and trust to Nature to do the rest. ”

“ There is no doubt now among educated physicians that pneumonia, taken in time, can be aborted. When the pain first manifests itself set somebody to baking hot cakes made from flour stirred with water. ”

“ Taking "cold" is a very popular camp method of feeling bad. The man who does not at least once, while in camp, stuff himself full of a good old-fashioned "cold" feels that he has been cheated out of a part of the enjoyment of his outing. ”

“ The patient staggers as he walks, and soon, unless relief comes, he will become totally paralyzed. Spots of blood appear just beneath the skin and especially upon the limb bitten. If the amount of the virus is sufficient to produce death, all the above symptoms are soon followed by tetanic convulsions and lockjaw. If, however, the dose is not sufficient to produce death, they gradually subside, leaving the patient much debilitated and subject to poisoned blood states that manifest themselves in the form of skin eruptions and ulcers. ”

“ The man should sit calmly down and bind his handkerchief around the limb (if it is a limb) , break off a stout twig and insert beneath the handkerchief, producing a rude tourniquet, and twist until the circulation is effectually shut off.
With a sharp knife make an X incision over the wound, taking care to penetrate deeper than the fangs have done. If he has good teeth and no canker in his mouth, he may now suck vigorously upon the wound. It does no good to suck the original wound. It is quite difficult to get any virus back through an opening not greater in caliber than a fine needle. ”

“ By a sort of strange medical paradox, in order to stop the evacuations it becomes necessary to increase them. We must sweep out the nest of troublesome bacteria that are 60causing the disturbance. An ordinary cathartic will not accomplish this. It is necessary to administer something that will produce a profuse watery discharge from the bowels. Nothing accomplishes this better than a heaping tablespoonful of Epsom salts in hot water, but as we have not provided for such bulky medicines in our case we will give our patient one tablet of elaterin which will accomplish the same purpose. ”

“ Change of water, food, methods of life, and personal habits account for the fact that nearly every person who seeks the outdoors at some time during his stay is afflicted with some one of the diarrheas. Without attempting to go deeply into the various classifications of the enteric complaints, a brief résumé of the guiding symptoms common to all will be given. ”

“ The tongue is characteristic of the disease, so much so, in fact, that we speak of a particular condition as the "typhoid tongue."
After a few days the patient begins to feel feverish. All the symptoms increase until he is quite ill and takes to his bed. About this time tiny red spots called "rose spots" appear on the abdomen, perhaps only a few, again they are quite frequent. The mind becomes dull and the hearing imperfect. ”

“ Any of the vessels of the lower limb may be controlled by compressing just behind the knee between the two prominent tendons that will be found there when the leg is doubled up. Arteries of the forearm and hand can be stopped by pressing with the thumb at the elbow joint just to the inner side of the tendon of the biceps which you may feel like a cord when the arm is extended. If the bleeding is from the upper arm stretch the whole arm by raising it above the head. ”

“ It is a fact not generally known to the laity that a solution of common salt and water will take the place of blood when introduced into the system. Surgeons resort to this practice in performing all very bloody operations. ”

“ All the time the diet should be watched. No solid foods should be allowed. Milk, light broths, fruit juices, and rice water supply sufficient nourishment and do not irritate the tender glands of Peyer and Brunner that are the seat of the disease. These glands become very friable in typhoid, and any violent action70 of the walls of the intestines, as in digesting food, will cause them to break through and permit the bowel contents to enter the general peritoneal cavity, when the patient will die from inflammation of the bowels. ”

“ An attack of pneumonia following a severe drenching from being out all day in a rain, or accidentally tumbling into the creek, is not a pleasant thing to contemplate. It usually comes in the night. The patient wakes out of a sound sleep with a chill. ”

“ It is estimated that the normal man in a state of rest will breathe sixteen times per minute. Any radical departure from the rate will indicate disease. An increase of two respirations per minute is supposed to indicate a rise of one degree F. in the body temperature, though this rule is subject to variations. Inspection of the bare chest tells the trained physician much regarding the condition of his patient and even the layman can glean much knowledge from that source. ”