in the leg by a very large rattlesnake near Fort
Belknap, Texas, in 1853. No other remedy being at hand, a small piece
of indigo was pulverized, made into a poultice with water, and applied
to the puncture. It seemed to draw out the poison, turning the indigo
white, after which it was removed and another poultice applied. These
applications were repeated until the indigo ceased to change its color.
The man was then carried to the hospital at Fort Belknap, and soon
recovered, and the surgeon of the post pronounced it a very
satisfactory cure.

A Chickasaw woman, who was bitten upon the foot near Fort Washita by a
ground rattlesnake (a very venomous species), drank a bottle of whisky
and applied the indigo poultice, and when I saw her, three days
afterward, she was recovering, but the flesh around the wound sloughed
away.

A Delaware remedy, which is said to be efficacious, is to burn powder
upon the wound, but I have never known it to be tried excepting upon a
horse. In this case it was successful, or, at all events, the animal
recovered.

Of all the remedies known to me, I should decidedly prefer ardent
spirits. It is considered a sovereign antidote among our Western
frontier settlers, and I would make use of it with great confidence. It
must be taken until the patient becomes very much intoxicated, and this
requires a large quantity, as the action of the poison seems to
counteract its effects.

Should the fangs of the snake penetrate deep enough to reach an artery,
it is probable the person would die in a short time. I imagine,
however, that this does not often occur.

The following remedial measures for the treatment of the bites of
poisonous reptiles are recommended by Dr. Philip Weston in the London
Lancet for July, 1859:

1. The application of a ligature round the limb close to the wound,
between it and the heart, to arrest the return of venous blood.

2. Excision of the bitten parts, or free incision through the wounds
made by the poison-teeth, subsequently encouraging the bleeding by warm
solutions to favor the escape of the poison from the circulation.

3. Cauterization widely round the limb of the bite with a strong
solution of nitrate of silver, one drachm to the ounce, to prevent the
introduction of the poison into the system by the lymphatics.

4. As soon as indications of the absorption of the poison into the
circulation begin to manifest themselves, the internal administration
of ammonia in aer