OF REMEDIES FOR THE POISONOUS BITES OF INSECTS.
Old books suggest various methods of keeping away serpents: but who that
is acquainted with America would not despise the prescriptions of the
old writers, adapted to fill pages only, not to be of any real use? In
preference to these ancient recipes I recommend the American ones, both
because they are more expeditious and readier, and because their utility
has been proved by long experience. The Christian Guaranies, whenever
they accompanied me to seek the savages in the woods, carried fresh
garlick in their girdles, and, notwithstanding the abundance of serpents
we met, not one of my companions was ever bitten by one. Following the
example of the Indians, I always kept a string of garlick suspended near
my bed, after being attacked by a serpent in my sleep. That serpents
dislike the smell of garlick is well known both to the ancients and to
country people, who rub the milk-pans with the juice of that herb, lest
serpents, who are extremely fond of milk, should get into them. My
faith, however, in the efficacy of garlick was not a little shaken by
one of my companions, who found a snake in the garden close to a plant
of it. But the leaves of a plant are endued with different properties
from its roots and fruit. May not the garlick alone, and not the leaves,
be the object of the serpent's abhorrence? The Abipones and Mocobios
suspend a crocodile's tooth from their neck or arm, thinking it a
powerful amulet against snakes of every kind. In this they are imitated
by many Missionaries and Spaniards, who often purchase the teeth of
these animals at a high price. I have known Spaniards who thought
themselves secure from the bites of serpents when they had a bit of
deer's skin about their body. There are persons who rub their feet and
hands with the juice of a radish, and believe themselves fortified
against poisons. I should not take upon me to despise these safeguards,
because they are approved by the experience of the Americans; but it is
the part of a prudent person never to place such entire confidence in
them as to lay aside caution, and lose sight of danger, which, in regard
to serpents, lurks where none appears.
For this reason I constantly exhorted the Americans to circumspection;
when they had to rest in the plain at night or mid-day, to choose a
situation free from bushes, reeds, and caverns, and at a distance from
the banks of pools and rivers; to take a survey of the spot; to examine
the tall grass, decayed trunks, and recesses of shrubs and rocks, before
they sat or lay down. The Indians, who neglect these precautions, are
constantly liable to the bites of serpents. Throwing themselves
carelessly on the ground, they sleep soundly without a fear or a thought
about serpents, and are often awakened with a scream by the bite of one.
When travelling bare-footed they employ their eyes in watching birds in
the air and monkeys in the trees, when they ought, at every step, to
examine the dangerous ground they are treading. The Abipones, from being
an equestrian people, and more circumspect, seldomer suffer from
serpents than the Guaranies, who always walk on foot, and use less
caution. In the town of St. Joachim, where the climate is very hot, and
the land is surrounded with marshes, rivers, and woods, venomous animals
are unusually numerous. Scarce a week passes that some Indians are not
bitten by serpents. During the eight years that I spent in this town a
vast number of persons were bitten by various serpents, but, with the
exception of two youths who were killed by a rattle-snake, not a single
individual died: all were healed by the use of one and the same remedy.
Now listen attentively whilst I make you acquainted with that celestial,
and almost miraculous, medicine, which is as unknown out of Paraguay, as
it is useful to the Paraguayrians. It is a very white flower, extremely
like a lily in its leaves, stalk, blossom, and scent, except that it is
smaller. The Spaniards call it _nard_. It grows in all soils, flourishes
at every part of the year, and is neither destroyed by long drought, nor
by hoar frost. I never could meet with this flower either in European
gardens, or in books treating of flowers, and have found the most
scientific herbalists utterly unacquainted with it. After diligently
examining every species of nard, I perceived that the Paraguayrian nard
could not be referred to any of them. The root of this flower, either
dried or fresh, is cut into small pieces and steeped in brandy. Part of
this infusion, together with the root, is applied to the wound, and the
rest taken inwardly by the patient. It is generally sufficient to do
this once. But if it be necessary to repeat it a second and a third
time, the force of the poison is destroyed, the swelling subsides, and
the wound heals. The sooner you apply this remedy, the quicker and more
certainly you will repress the progress of the poison. Taught by the
experience of eighteen years, I affirm it to be superior to all other
remedies. With it we have triumphed over the poison of every snake but
the rattle-snake. I cannot count the number of Indians I have healed
with this precious root. An Indian Guarany, as he was lying on the
ground out of doors, was bitten by a serpent. When the poor wretch
crawled to my town I prepared him for death with sacred rites, which the
violent pain of the swelled wound, and the cries extorted by it from the
wounded man seemed to presage. I had only a few drops of brandy
remaining: these, with the root of the nard, I applied to the wound.
Afterwards, as the extreme pain indicated that the poison was not yet
expelled from his body, I saw him recover in three days by the use of
the root with wine, which I substituted for brandy.
No one will deny that tobacco leaves possess much virtue against the
bites of serpents. A Guarany was wounded in the right foot in two places
by a snake, as he was reposing at noon on a journey. I was asked for
medicine, and as no nard was at hand, and we were many leagues from the
town, I advised the father of the wounded man to put a tobacco leaf into
his mouth, and to suck both the wounds. He replied that he had already
done so; I then told him to burn tobacco leaves, letting the smoke enter
the wounds, and to apply a cataplasm of chewed tobacco to the same; I
also desired the wounded man himself to chew tobacco, swallow its juice,
and smoke it through a reed, giving him likewise a vial of brandy to
drink. The poison at length was so much repressed by these trifling
remedies that the sick man recovered his strength sufficiently to pursue
his journey to the town. The warmth of the brandy counteracts the cold
of the poison, and restores the heat of the stomach and of the blood.
Father Gumilla declares that serpents will die if a tobacco leaf be
thrust into their mouths. We learn from the same author that, in the new
kingdom of Granada, the Americans drink gun-powder mixed with brandy to
cure the bites of serpents, and that it produces the desired effect. The
Abipones, Mocobios, and Tobas, as soon as they feel themselves bitten by
a serpent, cover the wound with virgin wax, which is thought to absorb
the poison. At another time they have it sucked out by their physicians.
They sometimes scrape a crocodile's tooth, drink the dust in water, and
at the same time bind a whole crocodile's tooth very tight on to the
open wound. Our druggist at Cordoba, wishing to try the virtue of this
remedy, gave an equal quantity of violent poison to two dogs, tying a
crocodile's tooth round the neck of one, and not round that of the
other, and they say that, whilst the latter died in a very few hours,
the former recovered by means of the tooth. The Abipones surround the
neck of a dog that has been bitten by a serpent with ostrich feathers,
and they told me that their ancestors looked upon that as a remedy.
The Portugueze extol the _piedra de cobra_, which is of a grey, and
sometimes of a black colour, and of various sizes, as the magnet of
poisons: for in the same manner that loadstone attracts iron, this
stone, when applied to a wound, absorbs all the venom. That it may serve
again for the same purpose it is immersed in milk, into which the poison
is discharged. The ancient physicians thought garlick an excellent
remedy for venomous bites. The efficacy of this plant against poisons
was proved by an experiment of my own. A Guarany, as he was working in
the garden, was bitten in the foot by a hairy spider, such as I have
described, and imprudently neglected to mention the circumstance. The
poison beginning to operate, he felt his thigh swell, with pain in the
stomach, and suspecting his danger, came to me for advice. I ordered a
little beef broth to be boiled with plenty of garlick, which taken by
the sick man immediately repressed the poison, the swelling, and the
pain. Nor am I averse to the prescription of Dioscorides, who thinks
that radish juice should be drunk on these occasions. The ancients have
advised washing the hands with the same, to keep off the attacks of
serpents. For it appears, both from the authority of physicians and from
experience, that not only the juice but the very smell of a radish is of
use against serpents. Some bind a live hen, or pigeon, cut open, to the
wound, thinking that the poison is absorbed by them. In place of a hen
some substitute a kid, or the belly of a goat newly slain. Some wash the
wounded part with goat's milk, and they say that a countryman cured a
serpent wound in the foot by dipping it often into goat's milk. They
also say that cheese made of this milk, when applied to the wound, will
have the same effect. To these old remedies America adds new ones, a few
of which I will mention. They apply the unripe fruit of the anana, when
bruised, to poisoned wounds by way of a cataplasm. The Indian physicians
give the herb _taropè_, (which the Spaniards call _contra yerba_, or
_higuerilla_, the little fig, because its roots have both the odour and
the milk of the fig,) to their patient to eat or drink, to counteract
the effects of poisons. The leaves of the herb _mboỹ-caà_ are chewed,
and the juice swallowed, whilst part of the chewed leaves are placed on
the wound. The _macângua caà_ is celebrated for possessing a virtue of
the same kind. This herb is named from the duck _macângua_, which, using
its wings as a shield, pursues and kills serpents, but if it be wounded
in the contest eats this herb as a medicine. The _yçipo moroti_, and
_bejuco de Guayaquil_, have the same property. The roots of the
_urucuȳ_, _jurepeba_, _jaborandi_, &c. are highly conducive to excite
perspiration, by which the poison is expelled. I do not deny the
validity of these remedies, but, with the leave of physicians, ancient
as well as modern, I still think nard root preferable to them all, for
it has been the salvation of numbers, not only of men, but of beasts. As
the cattle feed in the open air, day and night, every part of the year,
they are not unfrequently bitten by serpents, scolopendras, and spiders.
Blood dropping from the nostrils is the sign of a poisonous wound.
Brandy mixed with nard root poured in time down their throats was of
great use, but after the poison had diffused itself over all the members
of animals we generally found medicine unavailing.