134 NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



with the woorara, was, in the first place, to ascertain the quantit 

 required to cause death. 



In general I found 3- of a grain to kill a pigeon in five minutes, when 

 injected under the skin. 



2. I then mixed the same quantity with 20 drops of a solution of 

 iodine and iodide of potassium, of the strength of iO grains of the 

 former and 30 of the latter to the ounce of distilled water, and injected 

 it under the skin of the pigeon. It produced no sensible effect. 



3. I threw the poison under the skin of the pigeon, and applying a 

 cupping glass lightly on the part, injected the solution of iodine through 

 the same canula. No symptom of poisoning followed. 



4. I covered a deep wound of the muscle in a pigeon with a paste 

 made of the woorara and water. The bird died in five minutes. 



5. I repeated the same experiment, but washed the wound with the 

 solution of iodine. There was no bad effect. 



These experiments have been repeated by myself alone, and, in 

 connexion with others, more than a hundred times with the same 

 results. I feel confident, therefore, that their accuracy cannot be called 

 in question, and that, in regard to the woorara, it is quite safe to 

 affirm that the solution of iodine neutralizes its action. In making this 

 statement, I would by no means be understood as asserting that it 

 does so in all circumstances and in all proportions. The circumstances 

 which prevent its doing so are the introduction of the poison in such a 

 situation that the solution cannot reach it, or so directly into the circu- 

 lation that it has not time to act upon it. In most cases of wound 

 neither of these conditions is likely to occur. 



According to the experiments which I have made for the purpose of 

 determining the proportion of iodine required to neutralize the poison, 

 it appears that one third of a grain of woorara is perfectl}^ neutralized 

 by one eighth of a grain of iodine. 



The treatment of the bite of the serpent is more difficult to determine 

 by experiment than that of the wounds poisoned b}' woorara. The 

 bite itself is often profound, penetrating so deeply that applications can- 

 not be made to the bottom of^- it without inflicting an additional injury, 

 which, in itself, would be dangerous to small animals. On the other 

 hand, if the venom be first extracted fi'om the serpent, and then inocu- 

 lated, its action is uncertain. Much of what appears to be venom is, 

 probably, onl}^ saliva, which serves as a vehicle, and is with difficulty 

 distinguished fi-om it. Nevertheless, I have succeeded in saving more 

 than half the birds bitten, and in greatly prolonging life in those which 

 died. 



The manner in which these experiments are conducted is as follows: 



The bite having been inflicted on a given part, by having the ser- 

 pent properly confined, immediately apply a cupping glass lightly 

 upon the point, then insert a fine trochar beneath the cupping glass, 

 under the skin, and, while the air is being exhausted, press the solution 

 of iodine into the tissues of the part with a small syringe adapted to the 

 canula of the trochar. The cupping glass is retained upon the wound 

 until the solution has had time to disseminate itself", and become mixed 

 with the poison. 



In case of a superficial wound, when the treatment could be applied 



