REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 25 



was treated with, acids and alkalies at moderate temperatures, or with 

 alcohol, chlorine water, iodine, &c. It prevented the germination of 

 seeds planted in it, but did not destroy the vitality of large plants 

 inoculated with it, nor did it interfere Avith saccharine fermentation nor 

 with the accompanying growth of sporules. 



The effect of the venom on cold blooded animals was studied on frogs 

 and on the rattlesnake itself. In both the symptoms were like those 

 in warm blooded animals, but very much slower of development. In 

 the latter the effects were examined on pigeons, reed-birds, rabbits, 

 gninea-pigs, and dogs, in all of which careful examination of the post- 

 mortem lesions were made. The influence of the venom on the tissues 

 and fluids of the economy is given in detail, and the following are some 

 of the conclusions arrived at : 



In all animals which die within a very short period after being 

 bitten, there is no other lesion than' the wound, the blood and tissues 

 both being normal in appearance. In animals whose lives are pro- 

 longed, the blood is diseased and the tissues more or less altered. 

 The venom is not absorbed by the stomach or the skin, but when 

 drawn into the lungs of a pigeon it is fatal. The bite is attended 

 with no primary inflammation, and the local swelling is due to effu- 

 sion of fluid or semi-fluid blood. The muscles wounded by the fang 

 are affected with twitching at first, arid afterwards undergo a peculiar 

 softening, and become more liable to rapid putrefaction than other 

 parts. The muscular irritability ceases earlier than in ordinary cases 

 of death, while the rigidity occurs as usual. The intestinal motions 

 and those of the cilia are unaltered. The heart becomes enfeebled 

 shortly after the bite, from direct influence of the venom on this organ, 

 and not from the loss of the respiratory functions. Notwithstanding 

 the diminution of its power, the heart is usually in motion after the 

 lungs cease to act, and its tissues remain for a long time locally irri- 

 table. The paralysis of the heart is therefore not so complete as it is 

 under the influence of upas or corroval. In warm-blooded animals 

 artificial respiration prolongs the contractile power of the heart, but 

 does not sustain it as long as when the animal has died by woorara or 

 decapitation. In the frog, the actions of the heart continue after res- 

 piration has ceased, and sometimes survive until the sensory nerves 

 and the nerve centres are dead, the motor nerves alone remaining 

 irritable. In warm-blooded animals, respiration ceases, owing to 

 paralysis of the nerve centres. The sensory nerves, and the centres of 

 nerve power in the medulla spinalis and medulla oblongata^ lose their 

 vitality before the motor nerves become affected. 



