SNAKE POISONING. 323 



It is evident that by its will the Snake can move its maxillae and fangs, and that when it 

 has killed and begins to swallow by opening its mouth, which is pressed on the victim, the poison teeth 

 are not struck forth. Hence, although opening the mouth is necessary to the protrusion of the fangs, 

 as noticed above, still there are muscular actions required within the sphere of the will. A muscle 

 called the spheno-pterygoid contracts when the rod of bones is desired to be pushed forwards, and 

 the folding back of the maxilla and tooth is produced by the contraction of the ectopterygoid and 

 spheno-palatine muscles. 



The fangs are often cast or shed, and they are delicate, tubular, sometimes half an inch in length, 

 sharp at the free end, and on the whole rather scythe-shaped. The microscope shows that the canal 

 is not a simple passage through the midst of a solid tooth, but that the tooth may be considered flat 

 and to consist of dentine within and enamel all round, and to have been bent so as to form a groove, 

 and finally, by union of its edges, a canal. The poison looks like limpid syrup. 



The symptoms of poisoning point to exhaustion and paralysis of the nervous centres, and to a 

 rapid failing of every function of the body. Local paralysis of the bitten part, blood spreading in the 

 skin near the wound, faintness, vomiting, bleeding, and mucous, bloody, involuntary motions precede 

 loss of consciousness, and convulsions close the sad scene. The examination after death reveals but 

 little, and Sir Joseph Fayrer states that in animals the blood nearly always coagulates firmly on 

 removal from the body, and there appears to be some doubt about the condition of that fluid in man, 

 which is said to become uncoagulable and altered in its microscopic characters. The poison acts with 

 most vigour on warm-blooded animals, and especially on birds, for a vigorous Snake bite will destroy 

 a fowl in a few moments. Cold-blooded animals succumb less rapidly, and all die if bitten decidedly ; 

 but the poisonous Snakes are not affected by their own poison, or of that of their kind. How the 

 poison kills is a matter of doubt. Dr. Holford believes that the molecules of the poison speedily grow 

 into cells, and that these multiply rapidly, and extinguish, by their capacity for absorbing oxygen, the 

 animal heat and powers. But they have not been seen before death by himself or Sir J. Fayrer, arid 

 what was seen after death may have been the result of changes in the last hours, and subsequently. 

 In some cases there is not time for this change, and the poison is as rapid in its action as prussic acid, 

 and is. an equally incomprehensible agent of destruction. A fter a while, symptoms of blood poisoning 

 come on, and should the patient last, the death, of portions of the body and of the blood is evident. 

 But the primary action is unknown. The poison being very readily and rapidly absorbed into the 

 circulation, the only chance of successfully treating a bite, by any of the venomous Snakes in hot 

 climates, is to stop its passage by the veins to the heart as quickly as possible. A ligature should be 

 applied immediately above the bite, that is, between it and the body, if on a limb. The natives of 

 India apply one or more, not only just above the bite, but up the limb in several places. A garter, 

 brace, piece of cloth, or anything that can be tied round quickly and strongly, will do. It must be 

 tightened to the utmost, and a stick should be put in the strap or string, and twisted. The part soon 

 becomes livid from the arrested blood. Then, if no surgeon is near, have a burning piece of wood 

 placed to the wound, or a live coal, or flash gunpowder on it. A red-hot iron, caustic, or carbolic acid 

 will be still better. Amputate if you are wise, and the patient will submit. Should the bite be where 

 a ligature cannot be applied, a knife must be got out, and the flesh mercilessly cut out at once. 

 Suction is dangerous; cupping glasses are rarely at hand. It is not right to pin one's faith on liquor 

 ammonite, for it is not an antidote. If the poison has been absorbed the pulse falls, and prostration 

 commences. Then stimulants are the only hope ether, brandy, ammonia in water, mustard to the 

 pit of the stomach, and quietude. The patient is in danger of sinking from nervous exhaustion, and, 

 therefore, all the barbarous plans of walking about, flogging, &c., are worse than useless. Every 

 country has its antidotes, and every practitioner believes in one or more, but scientific experiment 

 under Fayrer and Brunton has shown that there is no proper antidote. Certainly, in less 

 venomous Snake bites, such as those of the Australian. Snakes, Dr. Holford has had success in 

 injecting ammonia into the veins. 



The venomous Serpents being individually very numerous in India, and the population being 

 dense, it is reasonable to expect that great mortality would occur from Snake bites every year. In 

 1892, 1,455 deaths occurred from Snake bites, and this awful mortality was not compensated by 

 the death of 84,789 Snakes. 



