CASE OF SNAIvE-BITE.
By Surgeon
J. E. Wright,
Civil, Nursingpore.
HosprrAL Assistant Abdool Uuiieem, of Gadarwara, came to the Sudder station on oth August as a witness in a case, and then came to me in a somewhat singular condition. lie is of thirteen years' service, about 46 years old?a steady, respectable, healthy man, and one on whose good faith 1 have entire dependence. His story was that on the 1st August he came across a black snake, called by him "nagun," about 15 inches long, and about as thick as a finger. He struck it with a stick more than once, and killed it; but while holding it down, he says there spirted up, "as from a syringe," some drops of a milky fluid. Two drops went on his upper lip and one on the lower. He immediately washed it well with soap and water, and applied caustic. There was a good deal of pain and swelling, soon followed by numbness and tingling in neck and back, about from the 4th cervical to the 6th dorsal vertebra. He says he felt as if he had taken an overdose of opium or dhatura, could not walk straight or firmly, could not regulate his move-
ments, and felt iutensely drowsy.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
16
The swelling was then gone or almost so, but the uneasy feelings continued as bad as before. He looked restless and anxious, and was quite unfit for duty. I sent out a man to relieve him, and kept him here for a few days for treatment and observation.
well, the main features of the case that his altered appearance and manners, and his strange walk. He could not sleep. The jail darogah, with whom he lived, told me he remained in one attitude, and with hi3 eyes open and fixed for many hours of the night, and instead of being a cheerful, well-disposed man, he was depressed and miserable to the last degree. He said that then, four days after it happened, the numbness was very great; he could not hold his head straight, and the tingling amounted to actual pain at times. His walk was just what I have seen in the early stages of softening of the brain and spinal cord?not paralysis, but want of regulating power. I gave him some croton oil and stimulant mixture, and he improved ; hydrate of chloral gave him some sleep, and in about five days he felt able to return to duty, though the tingling and numbness still remained. After about ten days he wrote and told " me that he had again taken a purgative of croton oil, and was now, by the grace of the Almighty, restored to his sound health." the
Knowing
Struck
me
man
were
with a case before in which snake-poison was a man's face by a snake on the ground, nor did I know that such a thing was possible. He says that he had He does not know that he struck or a slight sore on the lip. held the snake down by the head. I
never
propelled
met
on
to
[January 1,
1873.
By Surgeon
J. E. Wright,
Civil, Nursingpore.
HosprrAL Assistant Abdool Uuiieem, of Gadarwara, came to the Sudder station on oth August as a witness in a case, and then came to me in a somewhat singular condition. lie is of thirteen years' service, about 46 years old?a steady, respectable, healthy man, and one on whose good faith 1 have entire dependence. His story was that on the 1st August he came across a black snake, called by him "nagun," about 15 inches long, and about as thick as a finger. He struck it with a stick more than once, and killed it; but while holding it down, he says there spirted up, "as from a syringe," some drops of a milky fluid. Two drops went on his upper lip and one on the lower. He immediately washed it well with soap and water, and applied caustic. There was a good deal of pain and swelling, soon followed by numbness and tingling in neck and back, about from the 4th cervical to the 6th dorsal vertebra. He says he felt as if he had taken an overdose of opium or dhatura, could not walk straight or firmly, could not regulate his move-
ments, and felt iutensely drowsy.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
16
The swelling was then gone or almost so, but the uneasy feelings continued as bad as before. He looked restless and anxious, and was quite unfit for duty. I sent out a man to relieve him, and kept him here for a few days for treatment and observation.
well, the main features of the case that his altered appearance and manners, and his strange walk. He could not sleep. The jail darogah, with whom he lived, told me he remained in one attitude, and with hi3 eyes open and fixed for many hours of the night, and instead of being a cheerful, well-disposed man, he was depressed and miserable to the last degree. He said that then, four days after it happened, the numbness was very great; he could not hold his head straight, and the tingling amounted to actual pain at times. His walk was just what I have seen in the early stages of softening of the brain and spinal cord?not paralysis, but want of regulating power. I gave him some croton oil and stimulant mixture, and he improved ; hydrate of chloral gave him some sleep, and in about five days he felt able to return to duty, though the tingling and numbness still remained. After about ten days he wrote and told " me that he had again taken a purgative of croton oil, and was now, by the grace of the Almighty, restored to his sound health." the
Knowing
Struck
me
man
were
with a case before in which snake-poison was a man's face by a snake on the ground, nor did I know that such a thing was possible. He says that he had He does not know that he struck or a slight sore on the lip. held the snake down by the head. I
never
propelled
met
on
to
[January 1,
1873.
