402 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



tremor, epileptiform convulsions, opisthotonos and death, 

 and later experimenters have generally used this alkaloid or 

 its hydrochlorate. According to Phisalix (i8) the minimal 

 fatal dose of the latter administered by subcutaneous injec- 

 tion is for the mouse - of a millioram and for the doo- about 



10 o o 



I '8 milligrams per kilogram of the body weight. Intra- 

 venously the poison acts rapidly and in smaller doses. By 

 the mouth the dose has to be much larger, for example, 

 administered in this way, lo milligrams on the mouse and 

 20 milligrams on the guinea-pig has little effect, and on the 

 dog to produce appreciable symptoms the dose has to be 

 increased to 8 milligrams per kilogram of the body weight. 

 i\n interesting point is that when given by the mouth the 

 fresh venom is more active than the hydrochlorate of the 

 alkaloid. 



Phisalix and Langlois (19) exhaustively studied the 

 physiological action of salamandrine. The earliest symp- 

 toms of poisoning in the clog are restlessness, salivation, 

 vomitino- and tremor. Convulsions soon follow durinof 

 which the temperature rises rapidly, the respiration being 

 affected solely as a part of the general muscular spasm 

 during their occurrence. It has no direct action on the 

 heart though the vaso-motor system may be implicated to 

 a slight extent. The post-mortem appearances are con- 

 gestion of the principal viscera, haemorrhagic points in the 

 diaphragm and heart muscle, and emphysema and haemor- 

 rhages in the lungs. The meninges are congested and the 

 pia mater of the fourth ventricle is studded with hsemor- 

 rhagic points. 



Many other interesting features in the action of the 

 venom have been observed by Dutartre (20). Salaman- 

 drine, unlike the active principle of the toad's venom, is not 

 found in the blood nor is it present in the tadpole. The 

 venom has little or no action on the snail and slug, In 

 crickets it produces convulsions followed by a lethargic state 

 which passes off in about twenty-four hours and the insects 

 recover, while not only are bacteria unaffected but they live 

 and multiply rapidly in an aqueous solution. In some 

 mammals and in frogs the venom produces a considerable 



