DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A COBRA-DI-CAPELLA.

Southland Times, Issue 668, 10 May 1867, Page 3

DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A COBRA-DI-CAPELLA.

! <ip-om» fiiA " Melbourne Argue.") A melancholy occurrence— -tHe death of a, gentleman from the bite of a snake whichj he was handlin g— took .phuce in Melbourne on Sunday, the 14th April. The I deceased" Mr Biirnstall ' arrived at that pdrfc by- the mail steamer on same d^y, having tdken" ship at; Galley -He was b|y profession a medicaL man, aged about thirty-four, yearsr JHe had been in these icolonies before, . and it is believed . was Returning. Lftfter;: ai visit ito ; Geylon,^ wher6 he is isaidtpi^own pr,operfy. : i M.c arrivejd at Tankard's Temperance! Jlojtjel between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning.. About noon, ; having - opened some 'of his '"baggage, amongst !wHc!l he was conveyirig a live cobra -di-ckpellia, ; he ~took out the reptile had nev9r been taken out during the" voyage) and showedjit to,s;ome of his feHowfpassengers in the smoking-room of thejbotel. The snake was one of the pa]e_ species; it was about feet -in -length j 4 an 3; a very fine specimen ofr r its kind. ■ In ; displayingthe docility of tse reptile, he placed it around his neck and handled it with the greatest, freedom. In d-o^g s°» however, he r.eceived a bite on the handJ He shook it off, and again caught it, when it bit him again; He was spoken to by some of the company, who saw .that his hand was swelling, and Tecommended to have somedone ibo it without delay, but he appeared to make very light of the matter, and said he had been struck in the same way before. He then went away to his room, having first secured'the snake. At about two o'clock a gentleman named Keldef remarked a peculiar- sound in one of the I bed-rooms, something between a low;,, whine and a moan, which he thought appeared to come from some human being. He ' drew the attention of another person to thesourid^ when it was suggested that it wds a dog, : Mr Fielder was still impressed with the belief that some human being in great pain was uttering theysound" and onlook^ ing into the room— -that of deceased — from which it proceeded, the unfortunate man was seen to, be wringing his wrist, writhing and moaning with agony. Being Bpoken to, he requested the two gentlemen to shut the door, and give him a drink of water. He then told them he Jhad been bitten by a cobra (a fact' with which they were unacquainted), but that now the snake was quite safe r as he had locked it, .up immediately j after , the bite. It was suggested that a doctor should be called^ but deceased "for^ spine time objected. However, Dr Cujto was ;sent for, and he not bemg^iniHbhe messenger i\'ent arid called Dr Ktzgerald, who arrived as < quickly as possible.; In .the meantime, Mi I^ielder had bound,=a ligature around the arm of deceased* above the elbow, and had given deceased some brandy, and washed the bitten part the spirit. The hand had swollen considerably, and the swelling had extended some- distance v up^the arm. 'Deceased had at first been in very great agony, but as the effect of the bite_pro.duced- a -growing torpidity ...of. all the vital powers, vrapidly deepening intoHcomple^e coma, he appeared less sensible to the pain. Dr Fitzgerald applied the usual remedies, but the case had by this time become hopeless. v Too much, tune had been lost at the outset,, and the yirus had been too extensively absorbed to allpw 6f any means that cculd be then employed' being effectual; The ; doctor thought it advisable that the patient should be taken to the hospital, and he was conveyed r there at about t.w.enty^ minutes to five o'clock He was then in a state of complete insensibility, the arm had swollen very_much, and the_patient ] was evidently .dying. . His death, topk place : within' half an hour after ; his admission. tV "-; : 1:V: * '''''" '■ ' ■■'-■' -'i^--'-!