erefore I shall recommend no
other. It is the common garden _Onion_, (_Allium cepa_) applied to the
spot where the sting entered. I cut the fresh Onion and apply the raw
surface to the spot, changing it for a fresh piece every ten to fifteen
minutes, until the pain and swelling, and all disagreeable symptoms
disappear. If it is applied immediately after the stinging, the first
application will afford perfect relief in a few minutes, and no further
effect from it will be experienced. Applied later, it must be continued
longer, and this may be done one or two days after the stinging, with
just as much certainty of removing whatever symptoms may still exist.

I treated one case when three days had elapsed, the patient (a young
lady) was delirious and speechless, the whole face was so swollen as to
entirely disfigure her features, raising the cheeks to a level with the
nose, and closing the eyes. Her life was almost despaired of. The
surface of a freshly cut onion was applied to the point where the sting
entered, and changed about once an hour for a fresh piece. In a few
hours consciousness returned, and a rapid recovery followed. All the
swelling and disagreeable symptoms were gone in three days.

_Ledum_ is highly recommended by some Physicians, and is doubtless of
some value, but it is not to be compared with the _Allium_.

The most potent and certain remedy for the poison caused by the

Bite of the Rattlesnake

is _Alcohol_, in the ordinary form, or in common Whisky, Brandy, Rum or
Gin. Let the patient drink it freely, a gill or more at a time, once in
fifteen to twenty minutes, until some symptoms of intoxication are
experienced, then cease using it. The cure will be complete as soon as
enough has been taken to produce even slight symptoms of intoxication.
It is remarkable how much alcohol a patient suffering from the poison
of the Rattlesnake will bear.

An intelligent medical friend of mine in Kanawha County, Virginia, gave
a little girl of ten years, who had been bitten by a Rattlesnake, over
three quarts of good strong Whisky, in less than a day, when but slight
symptoms of intoxication were produced, and that seemed to arise
entirely from the last drink. She recovered from the intoxication in a
few hours, and suffered no more from the poison of the serpent.

Instances of cures with whisky are numerous, and I have never heard of a
failure, when it was used as here directed. I presume it will do the
same fo