When Dr W. Bland, Esq, surgeon of Sydney, reported on his observations following the treatment of a patient for snake bite in 1844, it provided an insight into colonial first aid.
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The patient, a 25-year-old male, had been bitten on the leg by a copper-coloured snake.
Immediately, the man applied a tight ligature around the limb and a second ligature below. He took laudanum and brandy to relieve the symptoms, while applying a solution of brandy and salt to the bite.
Dr Bland then cut out the wound with a scalpel before attaching a cupping-glass, fitted with an air pump. The apparatus was dispensed with due to the nature of the wound. It was replaced by some of the men who offered to suck the wound.
A teaspoon of the aromatic spirit of ammonia was then administered, then a tablespoon of the oil of turpentine. Suction of the wound was then resumed "with fresh energy". The patient was bled twice from the arm, with an estimated 26 ounces of blood drawn. By the third day, the "unpleasant" symptoms had disappeared.
In 1856, the Mercury praised 12-year-old Martin Copas for running on the spot to keep his circulation going after he was bitten by a black snake at Tom Thumb Lagoon.
The wound was scarified (criss-crossed with a razor) then cupped to draw the poison by a doctor. Thankfully young Martin survived.
While reference to red back and funnel web spiders did not enter common use until the 1930s, they have always been a scourge.
In 1872 at Wagga Wagga, a 12-year-old had "a very unpleasant bedfellow" when she woke to find she had been bitten on the hand by "a small black spider with a red spot". She began showing all the symptoms of poisoning including excruciating pain, rigid limbs and swollen eyelids.
A doctor applied acetic acid to the wound and administered ammonia. After several hours of intense pain, she began to recover.
In 1872 , the Armidale Chronicle reported on a "very narrow escape from death" from a "venomous spider bite".
The patient, a 13-year-old boy, was turning over some rubbish when the spider - "a large black one" (likely a funnel web) - fastened on to his left hand. Within minutes his nervous system was "prostrated". After giving the child stimulants, a doctor injected ammonia and the boy's condition gradually improved.
Picture: Snakes and insect bites were as common today as in colonial times, the only difference being the method of treatment. Such dangers lurked at a picnic at North Wollongong in 1887. CREDIT: From the collections of the Wollongong City Library and the Illawarra Historical Society.
Genealogy tip
For muster and census records, 1788-1901, go to www.records.nsw.gov.au
