“On leaving the train, our Parisian walked up the Amélie Road, and saw a snake under a rock. Never doubting that it was one of the kind that he knew so well, to kneel down, pass his left arm into the hole, and seize the snake, was the work of a moment; he quickly succeeded, even better than he intended, for instead of his seizing a grass snake, the viper bit him so hard in the left forefinger, that he could only make it let go by pulling it off with his other hand. Well knowing that he had been dangerously bitten, he went down to the Station Road to get the wound dressed, after which, thinking that all necessary precautions had been taken he returned to the forest, but soon felt uncomfortable. His arm and then his body swelled up, and he was seized with vomiting. It was time to go to Fontainebleau to seek medical assistance, for he had acute pain in the abdomen and stomach, his tongue was swollen, and his body was turning black.
“Accompanied by his friend he reached the town. His condition becoming more serious every moment; the injured man was carried into a hotel, where Dr. Lapeyre administered injections of antivenomous serum. After three hours—the same period as had elapsed between the accident and the first treatment—the general condition of the patient, which had never ceased to be alarming, showed marked improvement. By the end of the day he appeared to be out of danger, and left for Paris on Tuesday evening, delighted at having got off so cheaply.”
H.—Echis carinata.
XXVII.—Case recorded by Lieutenant C. C. Murison, I.M.S. (Indian Medical Gazette, May, 1902, p. 171).
“G. W. R., a Mahomedan, aged about 12, was admitted into hospital on March 10, 1902, at 9.30 p.m., having been bitten by a snake on the dorsum of the right foot an hour and a half previously. The snake was killed by his sister, and was subsequently identified at the Research Laboratory, Bombay, as an Echis carinata (Phoorsa).
“I saw the patient at about 9.45. The dorsum of the foot was swollen, and the swelling extended above the ankle-joint. The knee reflexes were very exaggerated, and the boy was somewhat drowsy. Since he was gradually getting worse, I decided to inject 5 c.c. of Calmette’s antivenene. I got the hospital assistant under my supervision to inject it into the right calf, to cauterise the bite with silver nitrate, and to apply a 1 in 40 carbolic poultice. Very soon (fifteen minutes) after this the pain in the thigh, which had reached to the right groin, began to disappear. During the night the patient was very sleepy, and the attendants had great difficulty in keeping him awake.
“March 12.—This morning the patient is much better; there is still considerable swelling of the foot, but the pain is much less. All other symptoms are gone.”
XXVIII.—Case reported by Surgeon-Captain Sutherland I.M.S., Saugor, C.P., India.
Case of a woman bitten on the finger on July 22, 1898, by an Echis carinata. Treated six hours later with 10 c.c. of serum. Recovery.