50 ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OP SEKrENTS. 



the surest means of ari'esting their effects. Laurentius 

 acciuired celebrity by experiments of this sort ; all the 

 world has heard of the six thousand experiments made by 

 FoxTANA. The observations of Russel have been intro- 

 duced into all works of herpetology ; Dr Davy has recently 

 added many new facts, the results of experiments made in 

 the island of Ceylon ; M. Lenz has made a great number 

 with the common viper ; and a crowd of other naturalists, 

 of physicians, and of chemists, have reported detached 

 facts, serving to elucidate this obscure branch of human 

 knowledge. But notwithstanding the vast number of ob- 

 servations, the results which may be deduced from them 

 are little satisfactory. All tend to demonstrate what we 

 have stated above, viz. that the spnjitoms following the 

 bites of venomous serpents are infinitely modified by pre- 

 valent circumstances. To obtain certain results, it would 

 be requisite to make a vast number of experiments with 

 snakes of the same size, in the same places, at the same 

 temperature, and to cause them to bite animals of the 

 same race, and even of the same constitution ; repeating 

 afterwards similar experiments with other species of 

 serpents, we might probably discover, on taking as the 

 result the mean term of the observations, if the nature of 

 the poison differs in the different species of snakes. With- 

 out calling in question this hypothesis, propounded by 

 several authors, I have reason to believe, that the bite of 

 venomous serpents, properly so called, is more dangerous 

 than that of the colubriform venomous serpents, and of 

 sea-snakes, because of the power of the weapons with 

 which the first are provided. 



The poison of Ophidians affects much less the white-blood- 

 ed animals than the Vertebrata. In most of the latter, the 

 effects of the bite manifest themselves immediately after 

 they are bitten. Man speedily perceives an acute pain in 

 the limb wounded by the fangs, which only make two 

 minute punctures hardly visible, from wdiich a few drops 

 of blood flow : the w^ounded part afterwards swells, and 

 inflammation declares itself with more or less rapidity ; 

 the absorption of the poison is announced by general de- 

 bility, walking becomes painful, the respiration impeded 



