SPECIAL ANTI-VENOMOUS SERUM. 425 



The key to the symptoms of Cobra venom poisoning are : 

 Contraction or shrinkage of the pupils of the eyes ; slight puffi- 

 ness or swelling at and around the seat of the bite, but not 

 elsewhere ; no signs of bleeding under the skin except perhaps 

 a trifle at the fang punctures. 



Adder venom poisoning : Pronounced dilatation of pupils of 

 the eyes ; swelling, starting from the seat of the bite and slowly 

 but surely extending. If the bite, for instance, is on the ankle, 

 the foot will swell, and the swelling will extend up the leg, being 

 more or less pronounced in accordance with the quantity of 

 venom injected ; bleeding under the skin in patches more or 

 less extensive — these patches soon become dark purple; slight 

 oozing of blood from the membranes of the mouth. When no 

 doubt exists in the diagnosis, and if the special serum for the 

 treatment be available, it is preferable to use it instead of the 

 polyvalent serum, owing to its greater anti-toxic strength against 

 the venom for which it is specially prepared. 



Mr. T. Maskew Miller, Cape Town, who is the publisher of 

 this book, has a limited supply of polyvalent anti-venomous 

 serum ; serum for the special treatment of bites by Mambas and 

 Cobras ; and another special serum for the bites of any species 

 of Adder. Provided with these three kinds of serum a man is 

 practically safe from death by snake venom poisoning, and he 

 has in his possession an antidote which may at any time save 

 valuable domestic animals. Owing to no antiseptic now being 

 used in these serums, it is necessary to renew them about once 

 in two years. The serum does not always become unfit for use 

 within this period, but it is the best all-round plan to obtain a 

 fresh stock at these intervals. The reason it is undesirable to 

 put an antiseptic into the serum of sufficient strength to keep it 

 good indefinitely, is that it would tend to make it poisonous, and 

 thus would not permit of it being injected in large doses, which is 

 often essential in order to save the life in a bad case of snake bite. 



Those who prepare anti-venomous serum should always keep 

 in mind that it is the neurotoxin or nerve poison which is the 

 chief cause of death, and not the haemorrhagin, although, of 

 course, if a large dose of the latter is injected it will cause bleed- 

 ing under the skin and into the substance and cavities of the 

 vital organs, as well as serious lesions, and cause death. 



However, if we succeed in destroying the neurotoxin of which 



