NATURAL IMMUNITY OF CERTAIN ANIMALS 225 
I endeavoured to determine the limit of tolerance of the mon- 
goose with respect to venom. Two of these animals, which had 
never been inoculated, received doses of venom respectively four 
times and six times lethal for the rabbit. The first mongoose 
remained perfectly well; the second was ill for two days, and then 
recovered. A third mongoose, into which I injected a dose eight 
times lethal for the rabbit, succumbed in twelve hours. 
Fic. 89.—MoNGOOSE SEIZED BY A COBRA. 
(For this illustration I am indebted to the kindness of M. Claine, late French Consul 
at Rangoon.) 
It must be concluded from these facts that the West Indian 
mongoose is but little sensitive to venom; that it is capable of 
withstanding, without malaise, doses which are considerable in pro- 
portion to its size, but that its immunity is far from being absolute. 
If it is generally the victor in its combats with poisonous snakes, 
the result is mainly due to the extreme agility with which it is 
endowed. 
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