POISON OF SOME INDIAN VENOMOUS SNAKES. 41 



were dropped into each. Ten drops of a solution of dried cobra- 

 poison, containing 0"O355 gramme in 3 c.c. of water, were then 

 used to moisten those in one tube, and as nearly as possible the 

 same quantity of pure water for those in tlie other. The seeds 

 were then covered with a few fibres of cotton-wool ; the tubes 

 were stopped with a plug of the same substance, and placed in 

 a warm room. 



Three days afterwards, all the cress-seeds which had been 

 moistened with water had sprouted and sent out a radicle, 

 varying from ^ to ^ an inch in length. Eight out of the 

 10 lettuce-seeds had sprouted and sent out a radicle more than 

 §■ of an inch long. All the cress-seeds moistened with poison 

 had also sprouted, but the radicles were only about yV of an 

 inch long. Five lettuce-seeds had begun to sprout, but the 

 radicles were barely visible. 



It is not improbable that the delay caused by the poison in 

 the germination of the seeds, in this experiment, is not to be 

 attributed entirely to its poisonous action ; and it may be due 

 in great measure to the solution of the poison having matted 

 the fibres of cotton-wool more closely than the water, and thus 

 rendered the conditions of air and moisture less favourable to 

 the seeds placed in it. 



Effect of the Poisoii ivJien introduced through different channels. 



The action of the poison is most rapid when it is introduced 

 directly into the circulation, as by injection into the jugular 

 vein ; and in such instances death may occur in less than a 

 minute. When injected into the thoracic cavity, as in 

 Experiment XXVIII, death occurred almost as quickly; but 

 this may have been due to puncture of the lung and intro- 

 duction of the poison directly into some of the pulmonary vessels. 



Injection into the peritoneal cavity comes next in order of 

 rapidity, but a good deal behind the last ; and it is followed by 

 subcutaneous injection. 



Whatever may be the effect of the venom of the viper or 

 crotalus, the cobra-virus produces its poisonous effects tolerably 

 rapidly when swallowed, both in the frog and in warm-blooded 

 ainmals, as is seen from Experiments XVII and XIX. 



