DOCUMENTS 367 
to that on which the preparation of antivenomous serum 1s based. 
He, however, assured us that he knew nothing about such practices, 
and that the properties of the plant in question had always sufficed 
to cure him without other treatment. Such was his confidence 
in his specific that, before the cobra was killed, he suggested to 
our hospital-warder that he should allow himself to be bitten in 
his turn, in order to render the experiment still more conclusive, 
adding that his own assistant would be the subject at the next 
demonstration. 
Nevertheless, a slight cedema began to appear round the bite. 
The injured man seemed to be suffering a little, but the pain 
did not extend above the wrist; a shght trembling appeared in 
the other arm. From time to time Coupin gently massaged the 
affected limb with his left hand from above downwards, in order, 
he said, to lessen the pain, and perhaps also with a view to check- 
ing the diffusion of the venom. A slight perspiration broke out 
over the body; the pulse was regular, 92, twenty minutes after 
the bite. 
Towards 6.15, or about an hour and a half after the experiment, 
the man, refusing an injection of serum, prepared to go home, 
but we insisted that he should remain at the hospital for at least 
two hours longer, so as to enable us to watch his condition. He 
consented to this, and asked for something to eat. At this time 
the back of the hand was somewhat more swollen, but Coupin 
seemed to be little disturbed by it; he even declared that the 
swelling would increase still further on the following day, and 
that, in two or three days, he would make an incision in order 
to let out the impure blood collected at the spot; also that the 
trouble was now localised, and would not extend higher. He 
merely complained of acute thirst, and of a certain difficulty in 
swallowing, which was due, he declared, to the extreme bitterness 
of the leaves that he had just masticated. Temperature 36°8° C. ; 
pulse 36. After the brief reaction at the outset, there was a certain 
amount of hypothermia, but the general condition seemed satisfac- 
