Bites and Stings.—These may be divided into two classes—those of insects and those of poisonous or rabid animals.
Of Insects.—First remove the sting (of a bee or wasp) by pressing a small key on the spot, whereby the sting is forced into the hollow barrel; then apply any of the following lotions:—(a) Rub the bite of mosquitoes with a solution of borax in ammonia. (b) When bitten by midges, the best applications are oil of camphor and laudanum, equal parts, applied on lint; or (c) 6 oz. Goulard water, ½ oz. laudanum, applied on lint. (d) ½ dr. extract of belladonna; ½ oz. glycerine; 3½ oz. water; to be well mixed, and made into a lotion. The parts to be washed with a small quantity—about a teaspoonful or two at a time. (e) Goulard water mixed with a little Eau de Cologne makes an excellent wash for the skin in case of gnat bites. (f) Keep an onion always at hand, and instantly when bitten squeeze or cut it, so that the juice should flow into the puncture, rubbing it gently over the place; its effects are equally efficacious in the sting of a wasp or bee, always provided the sting does not remain in the wound. (g) Ipecacuanha powder is very effective in allaying the pain caused by the sting of scorpion, hornet, and wasp, also mosquito and midge bites. For scorpion stings, &c., make a paste of the powder with a little water, and apply it to the wound in a patch about the size and thickness of a shilling. (h) In bee sting, first remove the sting as quickly as possible with a forceps or by scratching with a finger, but never with the thumb and forefinger, because this squeezes more of the poison into the wound. Next squeeze the wound until a drop of blood comes out, and rub the place as large as a florin with an aqueous or dilute alcoholic solution of salicylic acid. The effect is still better by injecting the salicylic acid into the wound with the hypodermic syringe. After this the spot is painted with collodion, to keep out the air. (i) Gnat bites, stings of wasps, bees, &c., may be cured by applying a tincture of minderus, laudanum, and Goulard water in equal parts. (j) Sweet oil, or camphorated spirit of wine, is a good thing to apply to bite of the mosquito. (k) One raw egg well beaten, ½ pint vinegar, ½ oz. spirit of turpentine, ¼ oz. spirit wine, ¼ oz. camphor; these ingredients to be well beaten together, then put in a bottle and shaken for 10 minutes, after which to be corked down tightly to exclude the air. In ½ hour it is fit for use. To be well rubbed in 2, 3, or 4 times a day. (l) The leaves of the common dock, bruised and well rubbed on the part affected, alleviate the pain. (m) For bee stings: after pulling out the stings, break some lettuce leaves close to the stalk, and apply the milk afterward. (n) Anything “strong,” in a popular sense, will generally suffice to decompose and destroy an organic poison if instantly applied. This is why the juice of an onion answers the purpose. Anything equally pungent would do as well. (Lancet.)
Poisonous bites.—There is great similarity in the immediate treatment desirable in the bite of snakes and mad dogs, the object being to prevent, as far as possible, the absorption of the poison by the blood. In the same category come any poisonous wound, as from arrows, &c. (a) Buckland recommends the following outlines:—(1) Suck the wound, if possible, most vigorously, taking care that there be no sores on the lips or in the mouth. In all cases before sucking fill the mouth with oil or salt and water if possible. (2) Apply, if you can, a cupping glass, or cut off the tip of a cow-horn, cut the bottom level, apply it over the wound, and exhaust the air by the mouth; when exhausted fill up the hole by means of a bit of wax or other material placed into the mouth before the operation of sucking is commenced. This is the mode adopted by the Kaffirs. (3) Wash the parts with hartshorn (ammonia). (4) Tie a ligature tightly above the wounded part. (5) Give doses of hartshorn and water as strong and as frequently repeated as the patient can bear them. (6) Send for the doctor as quickly as you can.
(b) Favourable results have followed using chloride of lime, a filtered solution of which was injected into the same place where the fatal virus (snakes’) had previously been introduced. In 17 trials made in succession, the poisoned animal survived without the slightest disturbance of its healthy condition.
(c) First tie a ligature above the part bitten. Then slightly cauterise with a lucifer match. Next swallow tumbler of raw brandy, to be repeated whenever the feeling of sinking comes on, till the liquor (which goes down like water) is tasted, and begins to affect the head. Meanwhile the patient is to be walked about by two men by force if he cannot do so alone or wants to lie down, which would be fatal. (Sir R. Burton.)
(d) Permanganate of potash may be added to the list of antidotes, as it is said to counteract very effectively the poison of serpents, when an equal quantity of filtered (1 per cent.) solution of permanganate of potash is injected 1-2 minutes after the poison.
(e) Probably a vapour bath immediately after being bitten by a venomous reptile or rabid dog will be found to prove one of the best remedies, the intense perspiration induced carrying off the poison. Excessive exercise following a poisonous bite generally effects a cure for this reason.
Bleeding.—Bleeding may result from a wound or from the bursting of a blood vessel, and may occur outwardly or inwardly. Bleeding from a wound may be arterial (coming from the arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the body and limbs), venous (coming from the veins which take the blood back to the heart), or capillary (coming from the capillaries which convey the blood to the extremities and surface of the body). In arterial bleeding, the blood is bright scarlet, and escapes in jerks, as if from a pump; this is highly dangerous. In venous bleeding, the blood is dark coloured, and flows away in an uninterrupted stream. In capillary bleeding, the blood leaks or oozes out. In some wounds all three kinds of bleeding will occur simultaneously. The foremost method of arresting external bleeding is by pressure, either on the wound itself or on the blood vessels feeding it, and in the case of a limb, it should be elevated above the body to retard the flow of blood towards the part. As the pressure is to be made on the vessels leading to the wound, it is obvious that in arterial bleeding the pressure must be between the heart and the wound, while in venous bleeding it must be beyond the wound.
110. Head bleeding. 111. Arm bleeding.