Experiments with Shires. 29 



(4) " In mammals, haemorrhages from the mucous 

 membranes, and petechial discoloration of the skin." 



The above observations agree with what I have 

 recorded, and it is interesting to remark, that they were 

 made thirteen years before my own microscopical 

 examinations of the blood. 



Experiments with Shires. 



This man apparently cared nothing for venomous 

 snakes ; he would put his bare arm and hand into a 

 box containing fifty snakes and pull out one, just as a 

 fisherman would an eel from a bag of eels. 



One morning, before commencing experiments with his 

 antidote on twenty dogs, he said he would try an experi- 

 ment on himself with some snakes from Gippsland, veno- 

 mous without doubt. There were several gentlemen 

 present, some of whom are still in Victoria. I told him I 

 would not permit such a thing, but, as he insisted, I was 

 foolish enough (I did not think till afterwards how 

 foolish !) to tell him, to guard against deception, to pick 

 out a certain tiger snake, one out of many that I had 

 received the evening before from Dr. Gummow, of 

 Swan Hill. The snake bit him on the left forearm, 

 three inches above the wrist, and held on. He applied 

 his remedy, and I watched him throughout the day, 

 and certainly no symptoms of snake-poisoning super- 

 vened. Had he died, where should I have been ? 

 How could this immunity be accounted for, for nine- 

 teen out of the twenty dogs died ? I was aware that 

 he had been several times previously bitten, and once or 

 twice nearly dead. It occurred to me, could previous 

 inoculation have saved him? as we know now 



