Note 163 — PART II. OF DISEASES. (continued 7)

The practice of sucking out poisons is very ancient; and indeed nothing can be more rational. Where the bite cannot be cut out, this is the most likely way for extracting the poison. There can be no danger in performing this office, as the poison does no harm unless it be taken into the body by a wound. The person who sucks the wound ought however to wash his mouth frequently with salad-oil, which will secure him from even the least inconveniency. The Psylli in Africa, and the Marsi in Italy, were famed for curing the bites of poisonous animals by sucking the wound; and we are told, that the Indians in North America practise the same at this day.