Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/240

232 and a piece of carbonate of ammonia, well moistened with pure nitric acid, applied; while thirty drops of eau-de-luce were administered nearly at the same time in a glass of water. In five minutes a similar dose was poured down her throat, which seemed to increase the spasmodic action of the chest, but the pulse at the wrist became distinct, though feeble. A third dose was given in three minutes more, on which she uttered a scream, and began to breathe more freely. Ten minutes had now elapsed since she had been brought to the pandaul, and in about three minutes more a teaspoonful of eau-de-luce was given, which almost immediately produced violent nausea, and profuse perspiration. When a little salt was put into her mouth, she declared that it was not salt, but sugar: and this the natives deemed an infallible sign of still continued danger. She soon, however, entirely recovered, and merely complained for three or four days of a numbness in the limb, above the wound.

Another case is recorded by a Lascar, who was bitten while in the midst of the river; the symptoms and the treatment were similar to the above; he also recovered, but complained for several days, that he had no left leg.

consideration of the Hydrophidæ naturally suggests an allusion to an animal of great size, and serpent-like form, believed to inhabit the ocean, and commonly spoken of as the Great Sea-Serpent. For ages the conviction of its existence has prevailed among the inhabitants of Norway;