204 OPHIDIA. — VIPERAD^. 



produce death in two minutes. Even where the 

 consummation is not so fearfully rapid, its delay 

 is but a brief prolongation of the intense suffer- 

 ing. The terrible symptoms are thus described : 

 — a sharp pain in the part, which becomes swollen, 

 shining, hot, red, then livid, cold, and insensible. 

 The pain and inflammation spread, and become 

 more intense ; fierce shooting pains are felt in 

 other parts, and a burning fire pervades the body. 

 The eyes begin to water abundantly; then come 

 sw^oonings, sickness, and bilious vomitings, diffi- 

 cult breathing, cold sweat, and sharp pains in the 

 loins. The skin becomes deadly pale or deep 

 yellow, while a black watery blood runs from the 

 wound, which changes to a yellowish matter. 

 Violent headache succeeds, and giddiness, faint- 

 ness, and overwhelming terrors, burning thirst, 

 gushing discharges of blood from the orifices of 

 the body, intolerable fetor of breath, convulsive 

 hiccoughs, and death. 



The subtil agent of such terrible effects is a 

 transparent tasteless fluid, slightly tinged with 

 yellowish green, and of the consistence of a thin 

 solution of gum-arabic in water ; when dried, it is 

 more glutinous and adhesive. It is commonly 

 said to be neither acid nor alkaline, but it invari- 

 ably changes vegetable blues to reds, though in a 

 slight degree, which proves it to have the proper- 

 ties of an acid. It has no peculiar smell, and 

 when applied to the tongue, produces a greasy 

 feeling. It produces no baneful effects except it 

 be mingled with the blood ; it may be received 

 into the mouth and swallowed with perfect im- 

 punity, though any scratch or ulceration of the 

 surface would render such an experiment highly 



