14 Professor Halford. 



The Time between the Bite and Death, and 

 Subsequent Loss of Coagulability by the 

 Blood. 



There are many cases recorded of death within the 

 hour, but I shall select only two in the human subject, 

 and one of a dog for illustration. 



CASE I. Sir Joseph Fayrer, in his work, "The 

 Thanatophidia of India," says : " A boy, aged 12, was 

 bitten by a cobra (N. tripudians), and died in half-an- 

 hour. The heart contained fluid blood, and the blood 

 (of the body) was fluid." 



CASE IT. A man was bitten in Melbourne, Decem- 

 ber 31, 1861, and died, it was stated, in twenty minutes. 

 The post-mortem examination was made by Mr. Rudall, 

 F.R.C.S. Eng. He states : "The whole blood of the 

 body was in a fluid state, not a single clot was observed, 

 nor did it coagulate when exposed to the atmosphere." 



CASE III. Dr. Weir Mitchell (to whose kindness 

 to me, and to his subsequent scientific researches on the 

 whole subject of snake-poisoning I shall have to refer) 

 states: "A dog was accidentally dropped into my 

 snake-box. He was bitten in a dozen places by as 

 many snakes, arid perished in about eighteen minutes- 

 This was the most rapid alteration of the blood with 

 which I have met." 



It has been almost universally assumed, that such 

 rapid result must be due to a primary action of the 

 venom on the central nervous centres. I have always 

 held, that it is the blood which is primarily affected, 

 and the nervous system secondarily. I am bound to 

 show how this can possibly be in such cases as I have 

 quoted above. 



All my readers may not be physiologists, therefore, 

 I proceed to give them some facts for their consideration. 



