In page 204 vol. 111. [Memoirs of doctor Lettsom] the following curious relation is given by Bishop Madison.
    In a town, this fall, among the mountains of our country, near to the place where I happened to be, a boy of 12 or 13 years of age, was bit on the side of one of his feet, by a very venomous serpent, commonly called a copperhead. The poison of this animal is not less dreaded than that of the crotalus horridus, or rattlesnake. The boy was carried home, and soon discovered symtoms of great uneasiness. A swelling commenced, and the wound was slightly scarified. A by-stander, acquinted I suppose, with the practice of the Indians, recommended the following application. A chicken was caught, the feathers plucked from the abdomen, and that part closely applied to the wound. The chicken instantly grew sick, and died as quick as if its head had been cut off. A second was applied in a similar manner; it died in about four minutes. A third also shared the same fate, in nearly eight minutes. A fourth was applied; it discovered some uneasiness, but did not die. The process was then discontinued. The boy was relieved, and suffered no greater inconveniece from the wound than he would have done from the puncture of a pin. He was perfectly well on the second day. Having heard what passed, I was preparing to go to the house where the boy was, when his father, a very respectable man, a magistrate, and noted for his strict veracity, with two other persons, upon whose information I entirely relied, from an intimate acquaintance with them came to me. From them I heard the particulars related, as they were present, and witnessed the effects of this extraordinary imbition of the poison. There remains not the shadow of doubt of the fact, as I have stated it. I saw the boy on the third day.
Post a Comment