170 VENOMS 
If the quantity of venom absorbed be sufficient to cause death, 
the patient exhibits, a few hours after being bitten, stupor, insen- 
sibility, and then somnolence, with increasing difficulty of respira- 
tion, which ends by becoming stertorous. Loss of consciousness 
seems complete a good while before coma appears. Asphyxia then 
ensues, and the heart continues to beat for nearly a quarter of an 
hour after respiratory movements have entirely ceased. 
In certain exceptional cases death is very rapid; it may super- 
vene suddenly in a few minutes, even before the local phenomena 
have had time to manifest themselves; in this case the venom, 
having penetrated directly into a vein, has produced almost imme- 
diate coagulation of the blood, thus causing the formation of a 
generalized embolism. 
If the venom be introduced in a highly vascular region, or 
directly into a vein, the result is almost invariably fatal. On the 
contrary, if the derm be scarcely broken, or if the clothing has 
acted as a protection, scarcely any absorption will take place. We 
are here confronted with the same factors of gravity as in the 
case of bites inflicted upon human beings by animals suffering from 
rabies. 
In experiments we are able to eliminate all these factors, and 
to follow in an animal inoculated with a known quantity of venom 
the whole series of phenomena of poisoning, the intensity of which 
can be graduated. Let us see, then, how the various animals that 
it is possible to make use of in laboratories behave with regard to 
venoms of different origins. 
B.—THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL POISONING. 
In the monkey, the first apparent sign of the absorption of 
Cobra-venom, or of the venom of any other species of COLUBRID, 
is a sort of general lassitude ; the eyelids next become half closed. 
The animal appears to be seeking a suitable spot in which to rest ; 
it gets up again immediately, and walks with a jerky action; its 
