The belief that rattlesnakes always give warning before striking is not well founded. If come upon suddenly, they often strike first, and if disturbed when in a space so narrow that the coil cannot be formed, they may give no warning of their presence beyond the penetration of the fangs into the hand or foot of an intruder. One such case I saw. It seems to be well established that a snake will not voluntarily crawl over a hair rope, and in certain parts of the country it is common for campers-out to surround their beds with such a rope, since the reptiles seek warmth, and are frequently found under or in the blankets of those sleeping on the ground. After an exceptionally large experience with wounds inflicted by the fangs of the rattlesnake, and an experience which, I am glad to say, has been most successful in its outcome, I think it my duty to add, from a practical standpoint, my testimony as to the efficacy of permanganate of potassium in the treatment of this class of cases. This drug was first introduced by Lacerda, of Brazil, and, if more generally used, would, I believe, render comparatively innocuous a class of injury which now usually terminates in death. I make this statement as to the fatality of crotalus poison advisedly. I know the belief is very common that the poison of a rattlesnake is readily combated by full doses of whisky. This is fallacious. I have taken the pains to investigate a number of instances of cure resulting from the employment of free stimulation. In each case the fangs did not penetrate deeply into the tissues, but either scratched over the surface or tore through, making a wound of entrance and exit, so that the poison, or at least the major part of it, was not injected into the tissues of the person struck. The effect is very much the same as when an inexperienced practitioner picks up a fold of skin for the purpose of making a hypodermic injection, and plunges his needle entirely through, forcing the medicament wide of his patient. Nearly all, if not all, of the cases treated by stimulation alone have, according to my experience, perished if they have received a full dose of virus from a vigorous snake. One of these cases lived for upward of a month. He then perished of what might be considered a chronic pyaemia, the symptoms being those of blood poisoning, accompanied by multiple abscesses. Another case, not occurring in my own practice, died at the end of four days apparently of cardiac failure. Active delirium persisted all through this case. Two other cases treated by stimulants also died with symptoms of more or less acute blood poisoning.