Coral-snakes.—The two coral-snakes resemble each other very closely, and are long slender serpents, whose heads are quite small, and scarcely differentiated from their bodies. The pupils are round, and the head has no pits. They possess two short permanently erect fangs, which are by no means so well developed as those of the viperine reptiles—though perhaps capable of inflicting more deadly wounds than any of the latter,—with the possible exception of the diamond-back rattlesnake of the extreme southern portion of the country. Their coloration is exceedingly beautiful, and when properly interpreted, entirely characteristic. From the head to the tail their skins exhibit alternate rings, or encircling bands of black, red and yellow—each band of the two former colors being bordered by yellow; in other words there are as many yellow stripes as there are both black and red together. Stress is laid upon the characteristics just mentioned, for the reason that half a dozen species of harmless serpents that greatly resemble them may, without exception, be differentiated from the true coral-snakes by the fact that there are as many black bands as both red and yellow. Where a snake has been killed, it is of course quite easy to determine whether or not it is venomous by a search for the fangs, which are never present in the non-poisonous reptiles. Fortunately, the coral-snakes are only found in the extreme southern portion of the United States, live under ground for the most part, and are rarely encountered.
Treatment of Snake-Bite.—As soon as a person has been bitten by a poisonous serpent, a tight bandage, or ligature of any kind, should be applied above the wound if the injury has been received on any of the extremities,—which is fortunately the case in the vast majority of instances. The part bitten should be at once exposed, and search made for the point of entrance of the fangs. It should be particularly noted as to whether there are one or two wounds, as it is true in about one-half of the cases that only one fang enters the flesh,—in which case, of course, the probabilities of serious consequences resulting are largely diminished. With a pocket-knife or other sharp instrument the wound should be enlarged, and, if possible, someone should be persuaded to suck the wound; this should not be done by one with decayed teeth, as under such circumstances the poison might be absorbed and produce unpleasant consequences. A doctor should be summoned as quickly as is possible, but it must be confessed that in the present state of knowledge, unless he should happen to possess—which he probably will not—some antitoxin for the particular snake doing the damage, his services will likely be of no great value.
It has been asserted by some that very large doses of strychnine are directly antidotal to snake venom, but more recent experience does not tend to confirm this view; still there is no harm in making the trial, and if the services of someone capable of giving the injections can be secured, the treatment is certainly worth the trial. The immediate injection into the tissues around the wound of a one-per-cent. watery solution of chromic acid or potassium permanganate is thought to be of value by destroying the poison, but in order to be efficient it must be administered within a short time after the bite has been received. Should the patient's condition become serious, and the breathing finally stop, artificial respiration may be resorted to. As soon as the remedies suggested have been tried, it is time for us to go back to the ligature, which cannot be suffered to remain around the limb indefinitely, as by cutting off the blood-supply it will sooner or later produce death of the tissues. From time to time we should slowly loosen the bandage, thus allowing a little of the poison to pass into the body, and at the same time permit the entrance of a small quantity of blood into the tissues of the limb beyond the ligature; the bandage should of course be tightened at the end of a half a minute, and it should be alternately loosened and tightened every half hour until the patient is considered to be out of danger.
The reader cannot fail to have observed that nothing has been said concerning the use of alcohol in the treatment of snake-bite, and the matter is only here referred to for the purpose of condemning it as being unsound in theory and bad in practice.
The idea that this drug is of value in snake bite doubtless originally arose from the fact that those bitten by poisonous serpents were depressed, and, as in the past alcohol was considered the best of all stimulants, it is not surprising that its use was generally considered to be essential. As we now know, however, that alcohol is a depressant rather than a stimulant, and as numerous experiments carried out on animals have clearly shown that it does harm in snake bite rather than good, there is every reason why we should cease to endanger the lives of those already poisoned by adding to the trouble by using this drug. There is but little doubt that many more persons have been killed by the alcoholic treatment for snake bites than have died from the effects of snake venom. Inasmuch as there is a deep-rooted superstition among most people that alcohol is the panacea for snake bite—and such notions die hard—it may be well to say that all of the authenticated cases of this character that have occurred in this country have recently been collected, with the result that it was shown that only about one man in ten dies who is bitten by a venomous serpent, and it is, therefore, quite easy to understand why alcohol has maintained its reputation as being an antidote in such cases—the chances being nine to one in the victim's favor without any treatment whatever.
As soon as the patient's needs are attended to, it is well to find if the snake that inflicted the wound was killed, and an examination of it should at once be made as by determining the size and character of the reptile an accurate forecast to the probable results may be made. In many instances it will be found that the snake was not venomous, it having made only a few scratches which are of no more consequence than the prick of a brier. If it be found that the serpent inflicting the wound belongs to one of the groups already referred to, the probabilities of a serious result will depend upon the size and character of the snake, and also to a considerable degree on whether one or both fangs entered the victim's body. A full grown diamond-back rattlesnake, which may attain the extreme length of eight feet, is perhaps the most dangerous of all the American poisonous reptiles, though a fully grown coral-snake may be regarded as almost, if not quite as, deadly. Next to these a large sized cotton-mouth moccasin is perhaps most to be dreaded, to be followed, depending upon their size, by the other varieties of rattlesnakes, the copperheads, and finally the ground-rattler. The larger the serpent inflicting the wound the greater is the result to be dreaded; naturally it also follows that the larger the individual bitten the less the danger.