IN THE VICTORIAN ERA 25 



typhoid patients the agglutination phenomena fail 

 altogether ; it is, therefore, not surprising that the 

 sero-diagnosis of this disease is still the subject 

 of much discussion and investigation. 



An interesting example of how particular serums 

 may be employed for the detection of particular 

 poisons has been furnished by Dr. Calmette. In 

 some districts of India the natives have an ugly 

 custom of wreaking their vengeance on their 

 enemies by poisoning their cattle, and to effect 

 this both expeditiously and secretly they employ 

 subtle poisons which they know can only be de- 

 tected with great difficulty. Serpent venom is a 

 favourite substance, whilst abrine, a highly toxic 

 vegetable poison, is another. The method adopted 

 for the application of this abrine is highly original, 

 and consists in taking small bits of wood shaped 

 like miniature clubs, so diminutive in size that they 

 can be concealed in the hand. In the head of the 

 club small holes are bored, and tiny pointed rodlets 

 of a hard greyish substance are fitted into them. 

 Armed with these crude instruments, the natives 

 scratch the cattle in several places, and, although 

 but little external sign of injury is to be seen, the 

 rod-points penetrate the skin and are broken off, 

 and the poison is left to work its lethal way through 

 the animals' system. Mr. Hankin forwarded some 

 of these broken-off rod-points to Dr. Calmette for 



