Snakebite

“ This is a boon to be appreciated fully by those only who have gone through the slow, lingering, and painful process of convalescence from snakebite as formerly treated, with its deadly languor and weariness, making life itself a burden and all physical and mental exertion impossible. ”

“ Factors determining the outcome of snakebite are: size, health, and species of snake; individual variation of venom toxicity of the species; age and size of the victim; allergic or immune responses; location of the bite; and the amount of venom injected and the depth to which it is injected. The last factor is one of the most variable, owing to (1) character and thickness of clothing between the snake and the victim's skin, (2) accuracy of the snake's strike, and (3) size of the snake, since a large snake can deliver more venom and at a greater depth than can a small snake. ”

“ The attempt is vain, for a person in collapse from snakebite cannot be stimulated by any of these remedies, since neither the heart nor the nerve centres respond to them in the slightest degree, as they do in the absence of snake-poison, the only one that has any effect at all in slight cases being ammonia. ”

“ Did not see the snake nor suspect snakebite, but collapsed helplessly in a few minutes after returning to his work. The writer saw him three hours after the accident. He was then completely paralysed and in deep coma; pupils widely dilated and not reacting to light; sense of sight and hearing dead; heart action extremely feeble; pulse small, thread-like, and scarcely countable; respiration quick and shallow; skin blanched and very cold. Seeing him dragged along the road between two men, had him quickly carried to the next house, and injected 20 minims of liq. strychnine. ”

“ The belief in snake stones, which have magical properties, particularly the power of curing snake-bite or acting as an antidote to poison, is widely distributed. In tropical climates, where venomous reptiles abound in great variety and man under more primitive conditions of living is less protected against attack, the absorbing terror of snake-bite is intelligible enough. In Western Europe, however, where snakes are less numerous, and poisonous varieties comparatively infrequent, the preoccupation with snake-bite is more surprising. ”

“ There is treatment for the bite of “a gangwayweaving spider,” and remedies in case a woman cannot “kindle a child.” Neuralgia and megrims are not the new disorders they are generally supposed to be, as we find remedies “for headache, and for old headache, and for ache of half of the head.”
“Poison” was lightly treated with holy water and herbs. Snake-bite was cured with ear-wax and a collect. For bite of an adder you said one word “Faul”; “it may not hurt him.” “Against bite of snake, if the man procures and eateth rind which cometh out of paradise, no venom will damage him. ”

“ Not exactly; there is another, which I have specimens of, but whose faculties I have never seen put to the test, which is called the spirting snake. It is about three feet long, and its bite, although poisonous, is not fatal. But it has a faculty, from which its name is derived, of spirting its venom into the face of its assailant, and if the venom enters the eye, at which the animal darts it, immediate blindness ensues. There are a great many other varieties, some of which we have obtained possession of during our journey. ”

“ In a moment the unfortunate victim of its wrath feels a chilly tremor run through all his frame; a swelling immediately begins on the spot where the teeth had entered, which spreads by degrees over the whole body, and produces on every part of the skin the variegated hue of the snake. The bite of this reptile is more or less venomous according to the season of the year in which it is given. ”

“ Stones of this type, which by their shape or markings resemble snakes, are naturally thought to be curative in virtue of homoeopathy. Just as the application of the body or fat of a dead snake [13] or a draught of viper wine [14] are sovereign against snake-bite or poison, so the application of a stone resembling a snake or the drinking of a concoction, in which it has been steeped, will produce similarly desirable results. Analogous is the use of the herb dracunculus, which, being spotted like a viper's skin, enjoyed a reputation as a specific against snake-bite. ”

“ If an incision be made through the skin and carried through the punctures made by the snake's fangs, very little difference will be found in the true skin. It may be a little more injected than normal, and the punctures will be found to be intensely so just at the edges, and a small quantity of blood may be effused there. But the areolar tissue lying beneath the true skin is the site of the chief change. It will generally be seen to be of a purple colour, and to be infiltrated with a large quantity of coagulable purple blood-like fluid. ”

“ For Snake-bite The best general treatment for snake-bite is to tie a ligature tightly ABOVE the wound, then suck out as much of the virus as possible. Give the patient large quantities of whisky or brandy, to induce intoxication. Incise the wound with a red-hot nail, or knitting needle. Keep the patient intoxicated till the doctor arrives. For Burns All burns are more painful when exposed to the air. For lesser burns a cloth saturated with a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda (common cooking soda) laid on the burn is probably best. ”

“ Among the magical stones which were catalogued in later classical times there are some which enjoy the reputation of putting serpents to flight or curing the victims of snake-bite, which cannot with certainty be brought under any of the above categories of so-called snake stones. [48] And mention should be made of a class of snake stone which appears to derive its name not from its serpentine shape, markings or origin, but from its function of extracting poison, for which it is qualified by its adhesive properties. ”

“ And assuredly the remedies are generally so severe as to be in themselves sufficiently terrifying. ‘No time for reflection;’ ‘no mercy must be shown,’ declares Sir Joseph Fayrer, in describing the incredible rapidity with which the venom inoculates the blood ‘in a moment of time.’ Where a deep wound has been inflicted by a highly venomous snake on a small animal, death has been known to occur in a few seconds, especially if the bite were on a large vein or an artery. Therefore if the bite be on a limb, to tie a ligature is the first thing to be done. ”

“ Loss of speech after snake-bite is discussed in Chapter XVII, under the head of Aphasia.
A peculiar complication is a distressing inflammation of the mouth of individuals that have sucked the wounds containing venom. This custom is still quite common, and is preferred by the laity to the surer and much wiser method of immediate cauterization by fire. There is a curious case reported of a young man who was bitten on the ankle by a viper; he had not sucked the wound, but he presented such an enormous swelling of the tongue as to be almost provocative of a fatal issue. ”

“ The true Snakes are destitute of poison-fangs; they have two rows of teeth in the palate, and a similar row in each jaw; the head is covered with broad plates, the under parts with parallel shields or scuta, which beneath the tail are arranged in two series; the tail is lengthened, tapered, and destitute of any terminal appendage; there are no spurs or other vestiges of limbs, either externally or internally.
HEAD OF SNAKE.
The prey of the Snakes consists of any small animals which they can procure ”

“ Fig. 8.—Poison-gland and Fangs of a Venomous Snake (Naja tripudians, Colubridæ) . (Natural size.)
L, Lobe of the gland; D, poison-duct; F, fang attached to the maxillary bone; G G, gland; M, capsule of mucous membrane surrounding the fangs; R, reserve fangs; A A, muscular fascia covering the gland.
(After Sir Joseph Fayrer.)
In a few venomous snakes the gland is developed to such an extent that it extends as far as the first ribs.
The species, on the contrary, that have the poison-teeth placed in the hinder part of the mouth (Opisthoglypha) have glands but little developed. ”

“ With respect to deep-seated thorns, the application of a cast-off snake-skin is efficacious, not to attract the thorn toward itself, but to expel it from the opposite side of the hand or foot. But, once we touch on the virtues of the mystic snake, we find its reputation just as great in Britain's medicine folk-lore as in Japan, where the great snake-skins held so conspicuous a place in the druggist's shop, or in China, where the skin of a white-spotted snake is valued as the most efficacious remedy for palsy, leprosy, and rheumatism. ”

“ It is a fact that the person whose body is proof against the poison of a snake-bite is never bitten, as he is feared by snakes. Formerly I doubted it, but I have myself seen people who have made themselves proof against a bite in this way, and I have also heard it from people in whom I have the utmost faith. ”

“ However, these two species are sometimes mistaken for each other.–The Smooth Snake prefers lizards as food to anything else, but it also takes mice. The prey is hunted chiefly in the late afternoon and in the evening, and is constricted by the coils of the snake. When caught or even when handled after months of captivity, the Smooth Snake bites deliberately and firmly, selecting a suitable spot, for instance a finger, opens the mouth widely and almost chews the spot. The bite is of course quite harmless, and scarcely draws blood, few of these snakes attaining a length of more than 2 feet. ”

“ Large serpents must be measured carefully, slit open underneath in a straight line from the vent up to within six or eight inches of the head, and completely skinned. A dry snake skin is about as good as none at all for mounting. I have seen many, but never yet knew of one being mounted well. By all means preserve all snake skins in spirits, as described above, or in the salt-and-alum bath. By making a head of cork it is quite easy to take both the complete skin and skeleton of a large serpent. If the head is to be mounted with the mouth open, an extra skull must be procured. ”

“ Probably the trick consists in depriving the snake of support to its body with the left hand and producing undulations which annul those of the reptile itself.
When charmers go out to catch snakes they are always in parties of two or three. Some of them take with them antidotes to snake bites. If a man is bitten, a bandage is wound tightly above the wound and the poison is sucked out. ”

“ All through Upper India the stock remedy for snake-bite is the exorcism of the Ojha or sorcerer, a performance known as Jhâr Phûnk, consisting of a series of passes, massage, and incantations, which are supposed to disperse the venom. Many, too, have faith in the so-called “Snake stone,” which seems to be usually a piece of bone soaked in blood and repeatedly baked. ”

“ It is a very difficult thing to recommend a care for a poisonous snake’s-bite. One of the most simple and classic is to suck the part. When a person is alone, this is of course only possible if he is bitten in the hands, arms, or low down in the legs. ”

“ Ordinarily a snake-bite is followed by a sense of extreme terror and prostration that lowers the resistive vitality. This is overcome by the temporary stimulation of the alcohol. The generally accepted idea that whiskey is almost a specific remedy for snake-bite takes away from most people this dread and consequent depression, and does this especially at a time when the acuter symptoms of the venom are making themselves felt. Only about one in six even of those bitten by large rattlesnakes are likely to die. Many circumstances are in their favor. ”

“ Whilst in all other reptiles the gut, at least stomach, liver and mid gut, are suspended by the mesentery from the vertebral column and hang free into the body cavity, in some snakes, especially often described in Boa and Python, the body cavity is cut up into numerous spaces, by peritoneal folds which connect neighbouring twists of the canal into bundles and attach them to the ventral surface of the body-wall. Probably the gut is thereby secured against dislocations in adaptation to the peculiar twisting contortions of the body, especially in the act of climbing. ”

“ But there is a certain movement among the loose bones of the skull (perhaps not yet thoroughly made out) , the result of which is to spread the points of the fangs apart, so that they clear the inner sides of the under jaw, instead of injuring them.’ Coues here describes rattlesnakes particularly, but no doubt the same extends throughout the viperines.... ‘In a large snake the entire gland may be an inch long and one-fourth as wide, having the capacity of ten or fifteen drops of fluid. There is no special reservoir for the venom other than the central cavity of the gland. ”

“ The snake jumped down the man's throat and passed into his stomach, but at the inquest held over the body no traces of wounds were found to which death could be attributed. Such a crime, however, may be detected by examination of the bones which, from the head downwards, will be found entirely of a bright red colour, caused by the dispersion of the blood; and moreover, the more the bones are scraped away, the brighter in colour do they become. ”

“ Sometimes a snake would try to get away, and insinuate his head and part of his body into a crevice; in that case there was sad anxiety, and judicious management was required to eliminate the reptile without damage. It is a very difficult matter to drag a snake backwards, because the creature sets up the edges of the scales, and each one serves as a point of resistance. So, when the snake is within a crevice, where the scales of the back can act as well as those of the belly, the difficulty is increased. ”

“ When a bitten person survives, the effects of its bite are said to be felt annually, as [393] in the case of the rattlesnake, and the injured limb ‘turns the colour of the snake.’ In regard to this latter symptom, said to show itself in the case of so many snakes, the bitten limb assumes all manner of horrible tints in most cases, and it does not require a great stretch of imagination to detect colours resembling the also many-tinted aggressors. ”