Backwoods Surgery & Medicine

by Charles Stuart Moody

If all this is done without delay, the chances are that the patient will suffer no great inconvenience from his experience. If he chances to have handy a stick of silver nitrate he can cauterize the wound thoroughly. Failing that, a brand from the fire will serve. After a time he may release his tourniquet somewhat and permit a portion of the retained blood to enter the circulation; the system is capable of taking care of a great deal of poison if it is allowed to flow into the blood gradually.

If, however, the virus has been permitted to enter the circulation at once the case is one calling for radical measures. In this connection it is well to state that alcoholics defeat the end required. The time-honored belief in the efficacy of whiskey in the treatment of rattlesnake bites is pernicious in the extreme. Alcohol, like serpent venom, has two effects, the later or depressant effect being exactly the same as the depressant effect of the venom itself. Therefore the man who recovers from a rattlesnake wound after drinking a large quantity of whiskey does so in spite of his remedy, not with its aid.

The one sovereign remedy in these cases is strychnia, and no man should penetrate a snake country without having this valuable adjunct with him. The administration of strychnia is not so difficult but that any man of ordinary intelligence can inform himself about it in a short time. It is a powerful alkaloid, of course, and must be applied with intelligence to accomplish the end desired. How much to administer will depend upon the person and the character of the wound.

It must be taken into consideration that the system already poisoned by the venom will tolerate a larger quantity than one in a normal condition. The average dose of strychnia hypodermically applied is 1/30 of a grain. This may be increased to say 1/15 grain without any serious danger. A person suffering from rattlesnake venom will bear without danger perhaps 1/2 grain or even more.

It will be understood that this amount is not to be thrown into the blood all at one dose, but spread out over an interval of thirty minutes. Strychnia has its most important field in the treatment of these cases after the depressant effect of the venom has taken place. The rule then should be to administer until the heart approximates the normal. The patient can take too much, then again he can take too little.

Chemical antidotes directed against the venom of serpents are extremely problematical. It is questionable if there is at present any chemical that will exert more than an antiseptic effect upon the virus. Permanganate of potassium may possess the property of setting up a chemical reaction, but if so it is so prone to deteriorate when in solution and requires so much time to place in solution that it is nearly valueless.

Ammonia applied to certain of the less dangerous venoms is efficacious. Applied to crotalus poison it is of no use. In fact, when the matter is reduced to its lowest terms, the whole process of combating the effect of serpent venoms is comprised in what has been stated above. Restrict the circulation, destroy the virus by heat either chemically or by fire, and keep up the vital forces. Very few Indian tribes have any suggestion of a remedy for rattlesnake poison. The Moquis probably have, though if so no white man has ever been able to extract the secret from them. It is known that during the Moqui Snake Dance many Indians are bitten and none of them die. It might be inferred then that they do possess an effective antidote.

In conclusion permit me to suggest an equipment for the treatment of rattlesnake wounds and briefly outline its uses. Procure a rubber ribbon about four feet long, technically known as an Esmarch tourniquet—this ribbon can be rolled into a compact form and is very elastic—; a sharp surgeon's knife known as a bistoury which should be securely wrapped in absorbent cotton; a blue bottle, or one about which several thicknesses of blue paper have been wrapped, containing a stick of silver nitrate; another bottle containing one hundred tablets of strychnia sulphate gr. 1/30; an all-metal hypodermic syringe for administering the same.

All these should be placed in an oiled silk bag and kept in a convenient pocket. The bag should be changed when the clothing is changed just the same as the watch or compass.

Now for their use: Let us suppose that you have encountered a rattler and are not too scared to know what you are doing. You quietly sit down, expose the limb, locate the wound, get out your Esmarch and beginning at one end wrap it securely about the limb above the wound, gradually increasing the tension until the rubber sinks into the skin.