as bitten on the leg by an
insect. Several physicians were called in but their treatment
gave no relief; blood-poisoning set in; it was decided to
amputate the leg, but before it could be done she died. * * * *
* In July, 1896, a veterinary surgeon 34 years of age, while
removing a cancer from a horse pricked his finger with his
knife. The wound was so slight that he forgot all about it. A
few days later blood-poisoning set in and in a short time his
end came. * * * * * Some forty years ago a man named Whitney was
teasing a rattlesnake in a Broadway barroom, was bitten by it,
and, though whisky was poured down his throat by the quart, he
soon died.

"Such results seem entirely unnecessary were the proper course
pursued, and at the same time they are a fearful commentary on
the medical resources of the day.

"The latest researches in regard to alcohol reveal it as a
poison to the human system in whatever way it may be diluted or
disguised. Its effect is always the same in proportion to the
amount taken. It is impossible to habitually use it in any form,
even in small quantities, without disease and degeneration
resulting therefrom. When taken into the stomach the action is
the same as with any other narcotic; the meaning of this word is
_to become torpid_. It benumbs the nerves of sensation, and thus
the vital resistance to any offending material is reduced, and
while the patient _feels_ less of any disturbance the real harm
goes on with accumulated force because of the lack of vitality
and non-resistance of the nervous system.

"When the body is in the throes of a vital struggle with a
virulent poison it would seem, to any unprejudiced mind, the
height of folly to further weaken the vital resistance by the
administration of any narcotic, and especially alcohol.

"The eminent German, Professor Bunge, says: 'All the results
which on superficial observation appear to show that alcohol
possesses stimulant properties, can be explained on the ground
that they were due to paralysis.' * * * * * Professors S. Weir
Mitchell and E. T. Reichert, in _Researches on Serpent Poison_,
make this notable statement: 'Despite the popular creed, it is
now pretty sure that many men have been killed by the alcohol
given to relieve them from the effects of snake bite, and it is
a matte