Observations and experiments on the efficacy and modus operandi of cupping-glasses, in preventing and arresting the effects of poisoned wounds / by Caspar Wistar Pennock.

Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations and experiments on the efficacy and modus operandi of cupping-glasses, in preventing and arresting the effects of poisoned wounds / by Caspar Wistar Pennock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    on the unbitten side: lie remained motionless and comatose, showing no symptom oi uneasiness for six hours, except when laid on the wounded part: he then struggled violently. He died without pre- senting any of the appearances of swelling and petechiae which are usually mentioned as concomitant with death produced by the venom of the rattlesnake. The second rabbit was affected during the day with severe rigors: these were the only symptoms observed. They had entirely subsided before the ensuing morning, and the animal was then perfectly well. On the day succeeding the last experiment, another rabbit was bit- ten by the same snake: the snake bit twice with violence: one of the wounds was on the upper part of the thigh, the other lower down. The incisions were marked by a minute effusion of blood. This ani- mal exhibited no morbid symptoms, but continued from the first as lively as though nothing had occurred to him. The rattlesnake was now suffered to remain undisturbed for three days, in the hope that by this expedient the poison would accumulate in sufficient quantity to produce death. A small dog, from whose hinder limbs the hair had been previously shaved, was then placed within the cage. He appeared panic struck at the sight of the snake, and lay as though deprived of the power of motion. The snake struck at him with great reluctance, and not until he became exceedingly irritated by being pushed and teazed by sticks passed beneath the dog’s body. The dog received two wounds; one on the upper ante- rior part of the thigh, the other on the lower part of the leg. Upon his removal from the cage, he recovered from the torpor caused by the snake’s presence, soon resumed his usual sprightliness, and did not subsequently manifest any morbid symptoms. The result of the preceding experiments having proved to me that the fatal consequences from the bite of the rattlesnake were altoge- ther uncertain, I determined to adopt a different plan, which gave greater promise of certainty. Supposing that the poison might not always have been fairly in- serted beneath the skin by the bite of the snake, I determined to procure one, decapitate it, and making an incision through the skin, insert the venom beneath it. By the aid of a distinguished naturalist, I selected one of the finest snakes from a large collection then exhi- biting in this city. The animal remained undisturbed for some days, in order that the secretion of poison might accumulate. His head was then struck off by a single stroke of a chisel, and as soon as the convulsive motions of the jaw had ceased, Dr. Harlan inserted the venom found in the bag around the fang, into two rabbits and a dog.