Editorial note — Chapter XII · THE WILL IN PNEUMONIA

[Footnote 5: The use of whiskey for snake-bite probably has no other significance than this lifting of the scare. It used to be said that the alcoholic stimulation neutralized the depressant effect of snake poisoning on the heart. Now we know that this is not true, and in addition, we know of no effect that alcohol in the system might have in neutralizing the presence of the toxic albumin which constitutes the danger in snake poisoning. It is only rarely that the bite of a rattlesnake will be fatal. Experts declare that the snake must be a large one, its sting must be inflicted on the bare skin, it must not have stung any one so as to empty its poison glands for more than twenty-four hours, and the full dose of the poison must be injected beneath the skin for the bite to be fatal. Very rarely are all these conditions fulfilled. When a person is bitten by a snake, however, the terror which ensues is quite sufficient of itself to hurt the patient seriously and he may scare himself to death, though the snake poison would not have killed him. The whiskey lifts the scare and gives nature a chance to neutralize the poison which she can usually do successfully.]