XXIX.—Case reported by Dr. Moudon, of Konakry, French Guinea.
“On December 9, 1898, a Foulah woman, eight months pregnant, was collecting wood when she was bitten in the heel, behind the internal malleolus of the right foot, by a snake which, from the description given, must have been a Horned Viper. When I saw her, four hours after the accident, the whole of the lower leg was swollen and painful. The swelling extended to the groin, and the patient complained of vertigo and nausea. I immediately gave her an injection of 10 c.c. of antivenomous serum in the right flank, followed by a second injection at 10 p.m. Ten days later, with the Commandant of the Fulton, I saw her again at her village; she had no symptom of malaise, and the pregnancy was taking its normal course.”
XXX.—Case of a bite from a Horned Viper reported by Dr. Mons, in charge of the Military Hospital of Laghouat, Algeria.
“Mohamed ben Naouri, a day labourer, aged 26, during the summer catches Horned Vipers, which he stuffs and sells.
“On August 3 a Cerastes, which he was holding down on the sand with a forked stick, disengaged itself and fastened on his hand. The snake was a large one, about 50 cm. in length.
“The accident happened at 6.30 a.m., 6 kilometres from Laghouat, and the man was bitten on the joint between the second and third phalanges of the third finger of the right hand. He applied a ligature to his wrist, and started to run as fast as he could towards the Military Hospital, where he arrived an hour later.
“He was immediately given an injection of antivenomous serum, in accordance with the instructions, and, around the bite, five or six injections of permanganate of potash, 1 in 20. On the next and following days, tense œdema of the arm and left side of the chest. Extensive purplish ecchymosis of the inner face of the arm; no fever. The phenomena gradually diminished, and, on August 17, there was merely a trifling wound where the bite had been inflicted. The patient was discharged at his own request.
“Like Dr. Marchand (des Montils), we can certify that the action of Calmette’s serum was rapid and efficacious. The injection did not cause any pain or febrile reaction.”
XXXI.—Case reported by Dr. Blin, of Dahomey.
“On March 5, 1906, native hospital attendant C., while gathering vegetables in the hospital garden, was bitten in the right hand by a Cerastes. The bite was inflicted in the tip of the index finger. Ten minutes later a ligature was applied to the base of the finger and another to the upper arm, and as soon as we saw the man, which was after the lapse of about an hour, he was given an injection of 10 c.c. of antivenomous serum. The patient complained of feeling cold and vomited. The axillary temperature was 36·1° C.; the pulse was weak, irregular, and rapid. The finger and hand were swollen. A few minutes later we gave a second injection of serum. Until evening (the accident took place at 11 a.m.) the patient suffered from nausea, but sweating set in, and at 7 o’clock the temperature had risen to 36·7° C. The feeling of depression was much less. On the following day the symptoms had disappeared, and forty-eight hours afterwards the patient returned to duty.”