If these simple means are well applied from the first, it must be a very bad case indeed which will not be cured, and most likely without any marks being left on the skin. Snake Bites.--A snake bite is only one of a large class of injuries which may be considered under one title. From an insect sting upwards to the most fatal snake bite, we need to note, first, the _blow_ or _shock_ of the bite, and then the fever symptoms which show poison spreading in the system. The blow or shock paralyses or kills a larger or smaller part of the nervous system. The nerve of the heart may be almost instantly so paralysed, with fatal effect. The snake poison especially affects the organic nervous system, and thus attacks the very source of vitality. In smaller stings, rubbing vinegar or weak ACETIC ACID (_see_) into the wound is sufficient almost instantly to cure. The same substance will cure greater evils. In the case of snake bite, first suck the wound thoroughly, watching that the lips and gums of the person who sucks are free from wound or scratch, or use what is called "dry cupping." Much may be done thus in a _few seconds_. But it must not be continued longer, and hinder the next step. This is to inject weak acetic acid _into the bite_. Where snakes are abundant, a small syringe, such as is used to inject morphia, with a rather blunt point, should be always carried, and acetic acid of the right strength. The injection must be _thorough_, and of course pain must be borne to avoid greater evil. Foment cautiously but persistently over the stomach and along the spine. Pay special attention to the lower back if bitten in the foot or leg, and to the upper part if in the hand or arm. During recovery, give careful diet, and rest. Of course this treatment will fail in some cases, as any treatment may. But if immediately applied, it will save a very large number of lives. Soaping the Head.--_See_ Head, Soaping. Soap, M'Clinton's.--Those of our readers who have followed out in practice the suggestions which we have given in these papers, will have seen some reason to believe in the importance of soap. Probably some of them have laughed at patients whose chief need evidently was a good washing of the skin! But there is more in soap applications than mere cleansing. These are found to be of immense value in cases in which there has been no want of perfect cleanliness--in cases even in which the skin has been habitually clean. For instance, in patients with nerves so sensitive that almost no application of any kind can be used, a covering of the back with a fine lather, and over this a soft cloth, has soothed the system so effectively that a great step has been secured by this alone in the direction of cure. When in search of really good soap we soon find that certain soaps are very harmful. Soaps made from "soda ash," as nearly all hard soaps are, tend to dry and harden the skin, and if used often produce bad effects.