179 



CHAPTER YII. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF POISONING (continued). 



Effects of the Various Venoms on the Different Tissues 



OF the Organism. 



The physiological effects of the various venoms are ver}^ 

 different from those that we have just described, when these 

 toxic substances are introduced into the organism otherwise than 

 subcutaneously. 



Their direct penetration into the blood-stream, whether by 

 the bite of the snake itself or by experimental intravenous injec- 

 tion, always produces immediate results. With the venoms of 

 ViPERiD.E, coagulation of the blood and, consequently, death are 

 almost instantaneous. With the venoms of Colubrid^, which, 

 on the contrary, destroy the coagulability of the blood, the toxic 

 effects are less rapid, but after the lapse of only a few minutes 

 asphyxia ensues and the death-struggle is very short. 



Absorption by the serous membranes is slower, but is never- 

 theless effected much more quickly than when it takes place in 

 the subcutaneous cellular tissue. When cobra-venom is injected 

 into the peritoneal cavity of a rabbit or a guinea-pig, the local 

 effects upon the serous membrane are almost nil. No leucocytic 

 exudation is observed ; death supervenes before this has had 

 time to take place. The venoms of Viperid.5:, on the contrary, 

 produce, directly after their introduction into the peritoneum, an 

 enormous afflux of sanguinolent serosity ; the capillary vessels 

 of the serous membrane, immediately becoming distended, allow 

 the blood to filter through their walls, and the animal succumb§ 



