Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1884 — Cures for Snake Bites. [ARTICLE]

Cures for Snake Bites.

Very few physicians know liow £o successfully treat snake bite. I have ha 4 hundreds of cases come under my observation, and have seen many wonderful cures. In countries where the venomous rattlesnake abounds and bites are frequent, incision as a treatment is almost unheard of. The most common antidote used is whisky in large quantities, which acts to a good effect where the patient is not addicted to drink, but should he be partly saturated with alcohol, then it is of no avail. A cure not generally known, and which acts almost by magic, is to take a live chicken and ent it open and place it over the wound. In two or three minutes the fowl becomes thoroughly saturated with the poison, and assumes a dark-green color. Then place a fresh one on the punctured parts, and still a third one, which is usually sufficient in ordinary cases. A never-failing remedy that is used to a great extent in Florida is a combination of lion root and rattlesnake violet. The former is made into a tea, and a salve is made of the violet, Before using this, however, a poultice made of salt and indigo is applied to the wound to draw out the poisonous matter. * A madstone is also said to act with the same effect on a snake bite that it does on that of a mad dog. I purchased one of these stones some time ago, but have never had occasion to use it, and am awaiting anxiously to test its efficacy on either dog or reptile poisoning. Another remedy easily applied and always at hand is to dig a hole in the earth and bury the injured part in it. There is something peculiar in connection with a snake bite, and I want to tell you of it. If a man should be bitten on the arm, say to-day, just due year from now, within a day or two of the anniversary of the occurrence, the arm will begin to swell, and yellow spots resembling those of a snake appear, and this will recur each succeeding year. —Pittsburgh Gazette.