With a sharp knife make an X incision over the wound, taking care to penetrate deeper than the fangs have done. If he has good teeth and no canker in his mouth, he may now suck vigorously upon the wound. It does no good to suck the original wound. It is quite difficult to get any virus back through an opening not greater in caliber than a fine needle. If all this is done without delay, the chances are that the patient will suffer no great inconvenience from his experience. If he chances to have handy a stick of silver nitrate he can cauterize the wound thoroughly. Failing that, a brand from the fire will serve. After a time he may release his tourniquet somewhat and permit a portion of the retained blood to enter the circulation; the system is capable of taking care of a great deal of poison if it is allowed to flow into the blood gradually. If, however, the virus has been permitted to enter the circulation at once the case is one calling for radical measures. In this connection it is well to state that alcoholics defeat the end required. The time-honored belief in the efficacy of whiskey in the treatment of rattlesnake bites is pernicious in the extreme. Alcohol, like serpent venom, has two effects, the later or depressant effect being exactly the same as the depressant effect of the venom itself. Therefore the man who recovers from a rattlesnake wound after drinking a large quantity of whiskey does so in spite of his remedy, not with its aid. The one sovereign remedy in these cases is strychnia, and no man should penetrate a snake country without having this valuable adjunct with him. The administration of strychnia is not so difficult but that any man of ordinary intelligence can inform himself about it in a short time. It is a powerful alkaloid, of course, and must be applied with intelligence to accomplish the end desired. How much to administer will depend upon the person and the character of the wound. It must be taken into consideration that the system already poisoned by the venom will tolerate a larger quantity than one in a normal condition. The average dose of strychnia hypodermically applied is 1/30 of a grain. This may be increased to say 1/15 grain without any serious danger. A person suffering from rattlesnake venom will bear without danger perhaps 1/2 grain or even more. It will be understood that this amount is not to be thrown into the blood all at one dose, but spread out over an interval of thirty minutes. Strychnia has its most important field in the treatment of these cases after the depressant effect of the venom has taken place. The rule then should be to administer until the heart approximates the normal. The patient can take too much, then again he can take too little.