ABSTRACT
The following has been adapted from a letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A 49 year old farmer complained of having been bitten either by the devil or an alligator. From numerous versions of the event, the following facts are given credence. One hour before appearing in the emergency room, the farmer was returning home on foot from a prayer meeting in a rural island area, on a path which led through a swamp. Suddenly, to the accompaniment of hissing and scuffling on the muddy bank of the path, the patient felt his right thigh locked in the jaw of some large beast. The patient was able to extricate his leg from the apparent alligator by beating it about the head with the family Bible.
Cleansing of the wound, and open drainage resulted in a successful outcome. Psychological trauma was offset by the patient’s recent attendance at the prayer meeting and a shot or two of spiritus frumenti en route to the emergency room.
