1896.] Immunisation against Serpents^ Venom. 107 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 20, 1896. 



Sir James Ceichton-Browne, M.D. LL.D. F.E.S. Treasurer 

 and Vice-President, in tlie Chair. 



Professor Thomas E. Eraser, M.D. LL.D. F.R.S. 



Immunisation against Serpents' Venom, and the Treatment of 

 Snahe-bite with Antivenene. 



From a remote period of antiquity, there has been enmity between 

 the human race and serpents, and, in a literal sense, man has bruised 

 the head of the serpent, and the serpent has bruised the heel of man. 

 This long-continued feud has not resulted in victory for either side. 

 Venomous serpents still annually destroy the lives of tens of thou- 

 sands of human beings, and, in self-defence, tens of thousands of 

 serpents are annually slain by man. 



The progress of knowledge has greatly increased the means for 

 protecting mankind against the death-producing effects of many 

 diseases ; yet, although these means have been liberally employed in 

 the contest against venomous serpents, none of them have hitherto 

 been found sufficient. 



The reality of the contest is appreciated when we find pervading 

 medical literature from its earliest beginnings — from the time of 

 Pliny and Celsus — to the present time, disquisitions on the treatment 

 of the bites of venomous serpents, and lengthy descriptions of the 

 numerous remedies, organic and inorganic, that have been used for 

 this purpose. Although extended experience and the application of 

 the scientific methods of the present day, have resulted in showing 

 that each of these remedies had been recommended on insufficient 

 grounds, we may hesitate in pronouncing their recommendation to 

 have been premature, in view of the impossibility of waiting, in the 

 presence of imminent dangers, until accurate demonstration has been 

 obtained by the usually tardy and laborious processes of science. 



Let me pause here for a few minutes to indicate the practical 

 importance of a scientific demonstration of the value of any remedy 

 that is used in the treatment of snake-poisoning. 



When a serpent inflicts a wound, I need scarcely say that it is 

 not the wound, but the venom introduced into it which causes the 

 symptoms of poisoning, and the death that may result. This venom 

 is now known to be a complex mixture, containing several non- 

 poisonous as well as poisonous substances. The latter arc not 



