On preservation of health in India / by Sir Joseph Fayrer.

  • Joseph Fayrer
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On preservation of health in India / by Sir Joseph Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    71 32 nearly like albumen in composition. It is most active on warm-blooded creatures, but it takes effect in all. Poison- ous snakes are very insensible to the venom of other species of poisonous snakes. A cobra or viper is not poisoned by another cobra or viper's venom, though probably affected by that of other species. But all other living creatures succumb to it. The action of the poison is local and general. Local.—Pain, partial paralysis of the bitten part, ecchy- mosis, swelling, and if death does not rapidly follow, infiltra- tion of other and distant parts, cellulitis, sloughing. General.—Depression, fainting, nausea, vomiting, hurried respiration, exhaustion, lethargy, paralysis, loss of conscious- ness, haemorrhagic discharges, coma, convulsions, death. If the quantity of poison injected be small or its nature feeble, the symptoms may give way and recovery take place. Snake poison acts by paralyzing the nerve centres—sometimes the peripheral distribution of the nerves, and by altering the constitution of the blood. It takes effect through the circulation, and if inserted into a large vein it will cause almost instant death. There is reason to believe that the numerous agents that have been recommended as antidotes are useless, and have no such properties as those ascribed to them. The rational treatment of snake poisoning is the endeavour to prevent the entry of the virus into the circulation, to support the failing nerve force, and to aid elimination. There is often uncertainty as to the kind of snake, its condition, and the extent to which its fangs were used. The shock or depression which follows a snake bite may be in a measure due to fright, and will, on reassurance, pass away. The marks of two well-defined punctures attest the insertion of two fangs, and if the snake has not been seen, may enable one to form an opinion as to its character. Many of the innocuous snakes are fierce, and bite vigorously, but their numerous teeth leave different marks to those of the poison fangs. A few innocent snakes have the anterior maxillary teeth developed like poison fangs, but bites from them are not very likely to occur.
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