436 THE: SNAKES OF ‘SOUTH -APRICA: 
Naturally, if more venom is taken into the body than is 
sufficient under normal conditions to kill, artificial respiration 
would be useless, but no man can know just how much the snake 
has injected, and therefore it is desirable to resort to artificial 
respiration when the victim of snake bite has ceased to breathe. 
EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMALS. 
Experiments have been made on animals by injecting them 
with snake venoms and resorting to artificial respiration im- 
mediately breathing ceases. In this way life has been prolonged 
many hours. In one notable case a dog was bitten by a Sea 
Snake. Two hours later it ceased to breathe, apparently dying 
in convulsions. Artificial respiration was resorted to. This was 
kept up for some hours. A galvanic current was then applied, 
but no muscular contractions were aroused, and the eyes con- 
tinued to be glazed, dry, and insensible to the touch. 
The animal seemed as dead as it was possible for it to be. No 
sign of life remained. Any medical man would have pronounced 
it so. The last spark of life seemed to have gone out. But 
artificial respiration was kept up by relays of assistants. 
After sixteen hours the dog showed signs of life. The galvanic 
battery was again applied. This time the muscles contracted, 
and caused various movements of the body. The bowels and 
bladder acted. Another five hours showed still more advanced 
signs of recovery in the dog. The eyes were no longer dry and 
glazed. Tears were secreted, and suffused the eyes. Saliva 
flowed. The eye-lids closed and opened when the now sensitive 
cornea was touched, or when drops of water were poured into 
the eyes. The dog made attempts to swallow when water was 
poured into its mouth. It eventually partially recovered its 
senses, and moved its body and wagged its tail. Twice the 
animal relapsed, and artificial breathing was again resorted to. 
However, after twenty-four and a half hours, when recovery 
seemed certain, the dog began to sink. The heart slowed down, 
and eventually ceased to beat. All subsequent attempts at 
resuscitation failed. 
Now, although this dog was, to all intents and purposes, dead, 
yet under artificial respiration methods it revived, and recovered 
