THE QUANTITY OF VENOM INJECTED. 313 



no outward symptoms of poisoning. There was no swelling, 

 and the animal fed as usual, and was as lively as ever. 



On the fourth day I extracted three drops of venom from 

 one of the Puff Adders which had bitten the Jackal. This was 

 mixed with a teaspoonful of pure water and injected into the 

 muscles of the other thigh of the Jackal, by means of a serum 

 syringe. One hour later the Jackal was dead. A post-mortem 

 showed the limb swollen twice its normal size. The flesh 

 of the whole limb from the toes up to the junction with the 

 body, was saturated with blood which had oozed through 

 the walls of the blood vessels into the surrounding tissues. 

 The muscles of the whole body were more or less stained with 

 extravasated blood, and the heart was also affected. 



The limb was then examined which had been bitten by the 

 two Puff Adders. All about the sites of the bites the muscles 

 were much discoloured with blood, which had oozed into the 

 tissues. This was traced up the leg and half-way along the side. 

 It was apparent that venom had been injected when the snakes 

 inflicted their bites, but not in sufficient quantity to cause 

 swelling or other noticeable symptoms. Now, if I had relied 

 upon this case as a demonstration of the efficacy of some 

 favourite " cure," I should have been altogether wrong in my 

 conclusions. 



The Quantity of Venom Injected. 



When a venomous snake inflicts a full bite it drives its fangs 

 into the flesh and retains its hold for a moment or two, at the 

 same time gripping hard. Now, in most cases of snake bite 

 with human beings and the larger animals, the victim generally 

 sees the snake lunge and springs away or shakes off the reptile 

 the moment it bites. If he does not happen to see it strike he will, 

 on the instant, leap, kick, or otherwise disengage the snake's 

 fangs before it is able to grip the flesh and press in a full charge 

 of venom. I have frequently made snakes bite animals with 

 the object of demonstrating that if a snake is allowed to get a 

 full grip and hold on for a second or two, the amount of venom 

 injected is double and often ten or more times greater than if 

 the reptile struck and instantly disengaged its fangs. This is 

 ascertained by observing the length of time the animals survived. 



