-1 
— 
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF SNAKE-VENOMS 1 
On the other hand, it has been shown by Th. Madsen and 
H. Noguchi, in a very interesting study of venoms and anti-venoms,! 
that, when we examine the relation between dose and toxicity, we 
find that the interval separating the moment of inoculation from 
that of death diminishes only up to a certain point in proportion 
as the dose is increased. In the case of the guinea-pig, with 
0:0005 gramme of Cobra-venom the interval is 3 hours 75 seconds ; 
but after this, an increase in the dose produces only a relatively 
inconsiderable acceleration of death. There is therefore no strict 
ratio between the dose inoculated and the time that elapses until 
death supervenes. 
D.—EFFECTS OF VENOM IN NON-LETHAL DOSEs. 
When the quantity of venom introduced into the organism is 
insufficient to cause death, the phenomena that precede and 
accompany recovery differ very greatly according as the snake 
from which the venom was derived belongs to the CoLUBRIDÆ 
or VIPERIDA. 
After a non-lethal bite from a Cobra or Krait, for example, 
convalescence usually takes place very rapidly, and, apart from the 
local œdema of the subcutaneous tissue surrounding the wound, 
which in very many cases leads to the formation of a suppurating 
abscess, no lasting injury to health is observed. The venom 
is eliminated by the kidneys, without even causing albuminuria, 
and sensation gradually returns, in twenty-four or forty-eight hours, 
in the part affected by the original lesion. 
If the bite has been inflicted by a Viperine snake, the local 
lesion, which is much more extensive, almost always results in the 
formation of a patch of gangrene. Hæmorrhages from the mucous 
membranes, and sanguineous suffusions into the serous cavities, 
* “Communication de Institut Sérothérapique de lEtat danois,’ tome i., 
Copenhagen, 1906. 
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