Brian Altonen, MPH, MS



CAPTAIN JONATHAN CARVER, ESQ., 1766-1768. (SNAKE MEDICINES)

Rattlesnakes [pp. 479-485]

Brief Notes

Types mentioned:

• Rattle Snake
• Long Black Snake, or House Adder
• Striped or Garter Snake
• Water Snake
• Hissing Snake
• Green Snake
• Thorn-Tail Snake
• Speckled Snake
• Ring Snake
• Two-headed Snake

Only the Rattlesnake is covered in this presentation.

Richard Mead (1673-1754)

The Rattlesnake

A British-trained colonial doctor, Richard Mead, once gave a detailed account of this snake in his essay “Of the Viper.”  The appendix of this has Table II, illustrating the bone structure of the snake’s head.  [Richard Mead.  The Medical Works of Richard Mead, M.D. (Dublin, 1767), pp. 19-34].  For generations, the ability of the viper to charm its prey before taking a life has been a fascination of biologists and physicians.  By the late Colonial Period, enough was known about venomous animals to make this an interesting part of early folklore American history.    The term most commonly applied to this ability to charm was animal magnetism. 

In North American history, most of this ability to magnetize prey was related to the Rattlesnake, due to the unique anatomy of its tail.  The sound from its tail was considered have a charming effect.  Around 1745-1750, Cadwallader Colden of New York introduced a new theory for this ability to charm.  He believed the snake could charm it prey by some metaphysical means, and claimed this skill had nothing to do with their venomous nature or their ability to create a rattling noise.  Colden used this argue and prove his hypothesis that another non-rattler, non-venomous snake–the rattleless, venomless, black snake of New York–could induce the same effect upon its next potential victim.

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Xanthoxylum americanum

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Carver was more than likely aware of Colden’s work, which was published by Karl von Linne himself.  We know this because of his coverage of Prickly Ash (Xanthoxylum americanum), a plant that was introduced and popularized for use as a medicine by Colden.

Carver’s coverage of local plants also demonstrates a common behavior of the writers of these early recounts.  Carver’s Rattlesnake Plantain is most likely the local orchid Goodyera pubescens.    In terms of appearance, the two have some features that they share.  Chemically and taxonomically, the two are very different.  This demonstrate an example of where one set of beliefs about a specific herb is commonly transferred to other herbs that look very similar.  This is probably the reason for the definition of numerous aster family plants as possible chamomile equivalents or substitutes, and is definitely the cause for Tussilago farfara and Petasites sp. both being classified as Coltsfoot remedies, which incidentally was originally a folk name assigned to Asarum canadense (see Jane Colden’s work, ca. 1750), a plant with a leafform more befitting of this common name.  

Carver begins his writing with a detailed description of this reptile, noting there to be a black and yellow type.  The characteristic rattle of the tail is detailed:

“The rattle of its tail, from which it receives its name, is composed of a firm, dry, callous, or horny substance of a light brown, and consists of a number of cells which articulate one within another like joints; and which increase every year and make known the age of the creature.  These articulations being very loose, the included points strike aginst the inner surface of the concave parts or rings into which they are admitted, and as the snake vibrates or shakes its tail, makes a rattling noise.  This alarm it always gives when it is apprehensive of danger; and in an instant after forms itself a spiral wreath, in the centre of which appears the head erect, and breathing forth vengeance against either man of beast that shall dare to come near it.”

The fangs are known and recognized to be the source for the venom, and well described by Carver:

“The teeth with which this serpent effects his poisonous purposes are not those he makes use of on ordinary occasions, they are only two in number, very small and sharp pointed, and fized in a sinewy substance that lies near the extremity of the upper jaw, resembling the claws of a cat; at the root of each of these, which might be extended, contracted, or entirely hidden, as need requires, are two small bladders which nature has so constructed, that at the same instant an incision is made by the teeth, a drop of greenish poison liquid enteres the wound, and taints with its destructive quality the whole mass of blood.  In a moment the unfortunate victim feels a chilly tremor run through all his frame; a swelling immediately begins on the spot where the teeth had entered, which spreads by degrees over the whole body, and produces on every part of the skin the variegate hue of the snake.”

This is a very important concept inscribed by Carver, for it provides us with the cause for the reasoning used by Native Americans when judging the cause for the malady.  Carver’s writing may in fact have been worded as such due to the influences of the European versions of these native philosophies.  How and why the notion of animal spirit came to be considered the cause for illness following rattle snakebites can be explained by these descriptions of the appearance of the victim.  Carver gives a vidi description of the strike made by the reptile to introduce its venom noting the venom to be most poisonous during the Dog-days when it becomes “instantly mortal.”

For treatments, Carver notes

“…its bad effects are to be prevented by the immediate application of proper remedies; and these Providence has bounteously supplied, by causing the Rattle Snake Plantain, an approved antidote to the poison of this creature, to grow in great profusion where-ever they are to be met with.  There are likewise several other remedies besides this, for the venom of its bite.  A decoction made of the buds or bark of the white ash taken internally prevents its pernicious effects.  Salt is a newly discovered remedy, and if applied immediately to the part, or the wound be washed with brine, a cure might be assured.  The fat of the reptile also rubbed on it is frequently found to be very efficacious.”

Serpent behavior, relayed by Europeans by their fascination with its venom and potency, most certainly charmed the same feelings captured by Natives.  Carver describes these, noting the changing animate and inanimate natures of the snake, by their ability to be charmed “with any harmonoius sounds, whether vocal or instrumental.”   Their pre-strike behaviors satisfy those speculating that they have what appear to be supernatural powers, which Carver described:

“I have many times seen them even when they have been enraged, oplace themselves in a listening posture, and continue immoveably attentive and acceptible of delight all the time the musick has lasted.” 

Carver then recounts the nature and behavior of the strike, followed by a note on what he felt was a safe distance from the snake: “It never extends itself to a greater distance than half its length will reach…”

The snake’s gall and flesh he notes are valued in Europe for use as medicines:

“The gall of this serpent, mixed with chalk, are formed into little balls, and exported from America, for medicinal purposes.  They are of the nature of Gascoign’s powders, and are an excellent remedy for complaints incident to children.  The flesh of the snake also dried, and made into borth, is much more nutritive that that of vipers, and very efficacious against consumption.”

Materia Medica (involving snakes and snakebites)

Animal Spirit–Snakes

“With the skin of a snake, which those reptiles annually shed, they will also extract splinters.  It is amazing to see the sudden efficacy of this application, not withstanding there does not appear to be the least moisture remaining in it.”

[J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 392]

Rattle Snake Fat

For treatments of Snake Bites, Carver notes:

“…its bad effects are to be prevented by the immediate application of proper remedies…The fat of the reptile also rubbed on it is frequently found to be very efficacious.”

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 482-3]

Rattle Snake Gall and Flesh

Regarding the snake’s gall and flesh of Rattlesnake, Carver notes Europe’s use of them as medicines:

“The gall of this serpent, mixed with chalk, are formed into little balls, and exported from America, for medicinal purposes.  They are of the nature of Gascoign’s powders, and are an excellent remedy for complaints incident to children.  The flesh of the snake also dried, and made into broth, is much more nutritive that that of vipers, and very efficacious against consumption.”

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 485]

Prickly Ash (Xanthoxylum americanum)

A Shrub, ten to fifteen feet in height, and with a leaf like an ash, and branches bearing thorns.  The berry is a scarlet red, “which when ripe, has a fiery taste like pepper.”  Of its medical value, Carver wrote: “The bark of this tree, particularly the bark of the roots, is highly esteemed by the natives for its medicinal qualities.  I have already mentioned one instance of its efficacy, and there is doubt but that decoction of it will expeditiously and radically remove all impurities of the blood.”  In Chapter XIV, “Of their Diseases, &c.” Carver described its use for treating gonorrhea.  A trader afflicted by this disease was treated with “a decoction of the bark of the roots of the prickly Ash, a tree scarcely grown in England, but which grows in great plenty throughout North America…in a few days he was greatly recovered, and having received directions how to prepare it, in a fortnight after his departure from this place…he was radically cured.” 

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 506-7, 393]

Rattle Snake Plantain (Chimaphila sp.? C. umbellata?  Probably Goodyera pubescens)

“This useful herb is of a plantain kind, and its leaves, which spread themselves on the ground, are about one inch and a half wide, and five inches long; from the center of these arises a small stalk nearly six inches long, which bears a little white flower; the root is about the size of a goose quill, and much bent and divided into several branches.  The leaves of this herb are more efficacious than any other part of it for the bite of the reptile from which it receives its name; and being chewed and applied immediately to the wound, and some of the juice swallowed, seldom fails of averting every dangerous symptom.  So convinced are the Indians of  the power of this infallible antidote, that for a trifling bribe of spirituous liquor, they will at any time permit a rattle snake to drive his fangs into their flesh.  It is to be remarked that during those months in which the bite of these creatures is most venomous, that this remedy for it is in its greatest perfection, and most luxuriant in its growth.”

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 517-8]

In his section on snakes and the treatments for their bites, Carver notes:

“…its bad effects are to be prevented by the immediate application of proper remedies; and these Providence has bounteously supplied, by causing the Rattle Snake Plantain, an approved antidote to the poison of this creature, to grow in great profusion where-ever they are to be met with.”

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 482-3]

NOTE:  The discovery of the herbal remedy for a snakebite in the vicinity of the snake is important in this healing faith.  The richly flowering nature of the plant right at the peak of the snake season was read as a symbol from Great Spirit that it was meant to be used for such purposes.

Salt

For treatments of Snake Bites, Carver notes:

“…its bad effects are to be prevented by the immediate application of proper remedies…Salt is a newly discovered remedy, and if applied immediately to the part, or the wound be washed with brine, a cure might be assured.”

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 482-3]

White Ash (Fraxinus americana L.; alt. Chionanthus virginica L.)

Distribution:  From Canada to the Eastern United States.  Other names include Cane Ash and American Ash.  Other Fraxinus species to note include F. nigra Marsh. of Canada and the Northern United States, also known as Hoop Ash and Black Ash.  Flowering Ash, (Fraxinus ornus L.), was the source of MannaGum, a biblical medicine.  By the mid-1800s, Water or Carolina Ash (Fraxinus caroliniana Mill.) may have had some local use in medicine.

For treatments of Snake Bites, Carver notes:

“…its bad effects are to be prevented by the immediate application of proper remedies…A decoction made of the buds or bark of the white ash taken internally prevents its pernicious effects.  The fat of the reptile also rubbed on it is frequently found to be very efficacious.”

IDENTIFICATION NOTE:  Chionanthus virginica L. of Delaware, to Florida and Texas, is also known as the White Ash; its other names include: Fringe-tree, American Fringe-tree, American Fringe, White Fringe, Flowering Ash, Old-Man’s Beard, and Gray-Beard Tree.  Chionanthus became an important American herb by the late 1840s, and appears in early Eclectic Medical trade journals. 

Aegopodium podagraria L., a European plant which escaped from gardens to become naturalized in North America, was also known as Ash-weed, and White-Ash herb. The White Lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.) of Eastern Europe is also known as White Ash. [Lyons] 

  [J. Carver, 1766-8, p. 482-3]