Euphorbia Prostrata as a remedy for the bite of venomous animals.
BY MAJOR EDWARD PREISS.
Mazatlan, January 7th, 1865.
...I send you herewith a sample of Gollindrinera, (Spanish,) Euphorbia prostrata, (Linn.) It is found growing in the territories of New Mexico and Arizona, in the United States, and the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa, in Mexico. In Jalisco this plant is more scarce, and occurs mostly in a poor condition.
It thrives in hard, sandy or stony soil, and therefore is most frequently found on roadsides, in the streets of villages and in house-yards. In Mazatlan I found a plant with branches, measuring two feet.
It is a remedy against the bites of snakes and other venomous animals.
During my voyage in New Mexico, I camped on the 5th of June, 1864, at noon, between Cubera and Pawate, near a waterhole. A Pueblo-Indian approached me, and entered into a conversation. He could read and write Spanish, and was very well versed on the map of the country. Noticing a snake in the waterhole, I asked him whether there were many rattlesnakes in those parts, to which he gave an affirmative answer. On questioning him whether Indians frequently died from snake-bites, he answered: “No, as they have an antidote against the poison.” At my request, accompanied by a gift of some cigarritos, he brought me a plant, which he gathered from the roadside, and which he called “Gollindrinera.” He told me that nobody ever died, not even from the bite of a rattlesnake, if this plant was applied in time. At the same time he told how it was used.
In Mexico I also found the country people well acquainted with the property of this plant. They apply it when their domestic animals are injured by venomous amphibia or insects.
The branches and roots of this plant contain a quantity of a milky sap. This is obtained by pounding and squeezing the plant, and is given to the patient in doses of about one drachm. The remaining fibres of the pressed-out plant are externally applied on the wound. The dose is repeated every hour,—or in aggravated cases, every half hour,—until the patient feels relieved; which will occur in a few hours. The external application must be frequently renewed.
I ascertained from reliable authority, that two dogs, being bitten by rattlesnakes, were cured, one after four, and the other after six repetitions of the dose. The poultice was frequently changed. Both dogs were perfectly restored within twenty-four hours.
Tepic, March 28th, 1865.
...Myself and companion arrived on the 14th of March, 1865, at 3 o’clock P. M., at San Blas. In the evening, our faces, necks and hands were badly bitten by myriads of sandflies. The sting of these flies is exceedingly painful, and the effects of them last for several days. Every person visiting San Blas will not easily forget these insects; each sting produces a reddish swelling, which hardens after awhile, and sometimes remains for eight days and more. We left San Blas on the 15th of March, at 1.30 A. M., and arrived at 5 P. M. at Tepic. The fly-bites were excruciatingly painful. On the 16th we used liquid ammoniac to allay our suffering, but without result. In the forenoon of the 17th I found two small Gollindrinera plants in the streets of Tepic; I pulled it, roots and all, from the ground, broke them into several parts, and rubbed the milky juice over my sores. In half an hour all the pain had left. Not being able to find any more of the plants, my companion had to suffer for several days longer; which proves, however, that my relief from the tormenting pain was directly to be credited to the medical virtue of the Gollindrinera.
During my lengthened stay among the natives of Australia, I observed that no black man ever died from the bite of a venomous reptile,—excepting always the dead-adder, (bothrops)—while a white man seldom escaped death. The remedy of the blacks is very simple, consisting merely in sucking out the wound, and in keeping awake the patient for at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The dead adder (bothrops) of Australia is probably the most poisonous reptile. A black man, if bitten by this snake, will be abandoned to death by his friends, they being sure that help is out of the question. I witnessed once the death of a victim of the dead-adder.
I read in an Australian paper, that a white boy, who was bitten in the finger by a dead-adder, had so much presence of mind, as to chop it off with his pocket-knife. The finger had afterwards to be regularly amputated, but the boy’s life was saved.
An interesting discussion occurred as to the characteristics of various species of trees.