...Myself and companion arrived on the 14th of March, 1865, at 3 o’clock P. M., at San Blas. In the evening, our faces, necks and hands were badly bitten by myriads of sandflies. The sting of these flies is exceedingly painful, and the effects of them last for several days. Every person visiting San Blas will not easily forget these insects; each sting produces a reddish swelling, which hardens after awhile, and sometimes remains for eight days and more. We left San Blas on the 15th of March, at 1.30 A. M., and arrived at 5 P. M. at Tepic. The fly-bites were excruciatingly painful. On the 16th we used liquid ammoniac to allay our suffering, but without result. In the forenoon of the 17th I found two small Gollindrinera plants in the streets of Tepic; I pulled it, roots and all, from the ground, broke them into several parts, and rubbed the milky juice over my sores. In half an hour all the pain had left. Not being able to find any more of the plants, my companion had to suffer for several days longer; which proves, however, that my relief from the tormenting pain was directly to be credited to the medical virtue of the Gollindrinera.
During my lengthened stay among the natives of Australia, I observed that no black man ever died from the bite of a venomous reptile,—excepting always the dead-adder, (bothrops)—while a white man seldom escaped death. The remedy of the blacks is very simple, consisting merely in sucking out the wound, and in keeping awake the patient for at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The dead adder (bothrops) of Australia is probably the most poisonous reptile. A black man, if bitten by this snake, will be abandoned to death by his friends, they being sure that help is out of the question. I witnessed once the death of a victim of the dead-adder.
I read in an Australian paper, that a white boy, who was bitten in the finger by a dead-adder, had so much presence of mind, as to chop it off with his pocket-knife. The finger had afterwards to be regularly amputated, but the boy’s life was saved.
An interesting discussion occurred as to the characteristics of various species of trees.
Regular Meeting, April 3d, 1865.
President in the chair.
Nine members present.
Donations to the Library: Col. Ransom presented a bound copy of Vols. I and II of the Society’s Proceedings.
Dr. Kellogg exhibited from the Academy’s herbarium, accompanied by a drawing and description, a new species of Pentachæta, very abundant on the dry hills of Marin County—Pentachæta purpurea of Kellogg.