4 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



Smith of Sydney, who have obtained results in the case of 

 Australian snakes which corroborate those obtained by pre- 

 vious observers with the cobra and other venomous serpents. 1 

 Many of the paragraphs that follow are quotations from 

 these papers. 



A complete investigation into the subject of snake poison 

 must attempt to answer three questions : — 



i . What is the poison ? 



2. What is its physiological action ? 



3. How can one best prevent or counteract this action? 

 The majority of previous workers have begun at the 



wrong end ; for out of about four hundred references con- 

 sulted, over three hundred are to papers in which the 

 authors answer to their own satisfaction the third question, 

 and describe the beneficial results following the adminis- 

 tration of some such potent drugs as ash tea or human 

 saliva, and the utter and entire futility of the whisky or 

 other treatment. 



Martin has adopted another method, and his papers re- 

 late to the first two questions only. He is to be congratu- 

 lated on his results, especially as the investigation was 

 fraught with difficulties. It was impossible to procure the 

 services of a professional snake catcher, and so it was neces- 

 sary for him to do all the work himself. As he puts it, it 

 was also necessary to overcome that dislike and dread of 

 the serpent which is instilled into the youthful intelligence 

 at an early age in every Christian land. 



The method of obtaining the poison was an ingenious 

 modification of that adopted by the Indian snake men. The 

 yield of poison per bite was very small, and so considerable 

 time and patience were consumed in getting enough material 

 to work with. 



The small quantity secreted is apparently amply atoned 

 for by quality, the minimal fatal dose per pound weight being 

 considerably less than that given by the Indian Snake 

 Commission for the cobra. Some idea of this virulence 



1 The Venom of the Australian Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus), 

 by C. J. Martin and J. M'Garvie Smith, Proc. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, Aug. 3, 

 1S92 ; and Journal of Physiology , vol. xv. (1893), P- 3$°- 



