502 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



venom, for he completely collapsed within twenty minutes and 

 was sinking into a condition of insensibility. This does not 

 occur with Puff Adder venom poisoning unless an exceptionally 

 large dose has been injected. To make absolutely certain of his 

 recovery, I injected 40 c.c. of the specialized serum I have caused 

 to be prepared from the venoms of South African snakes. The 

 following day he was out and about, with his arm in a sling, 

 smiling his characteristic tired sort of smile. This occurred seven 

 and a half years ago. 



In January, 1920, he was assisting me with some operations 

 on snakes in the Snake Park at the Museum, and was unfortunate 

 enough to get severely bitten on the hand by a large Puff Adder. 

 I subsequently injected him with 10 c.c. of what is now known 

 as FitzSimons' serum. This cured him completely of the snake 

 venom poisoning, and all went well for four days. Then serum 

 sickness set in. His hand and arm at the sites of the two injec- 

 tions became hot and swollen. Some hours later his mouth and 

 one eye swelled considerably. When his flesh was pressed, white 

 blotches appeared and remained for some little time ; a tickling, 

 itchy feeling started at the feet, slowly advanced up to the crown 

 of the head and passed off ; a catch occurred in his breath now 

 and then, and he felt generally weak and ill. These symptoms 

 reached their maximum within twenty-four hours, and then began 

 to subside, leaving tiny red spots like flea or mosquito bites on 

 the skin. 



On the contrary, one of my men was bitten and treated suc- 

 cessfully with 10 c.c. of serum. After an interval of four months 

 he was again bitten, and I injected him with 20 c.c. of serum. 

 In this instance there was no subsequent serum sickness, and not 

 even a rash. 



However, it must be carefully borne in mind that if horse 

 serum of any sort, anti- venomous or otherwise, has been given 

 at some previous time, the patient will possibly suffer more or less 

 from serum sickness if again injected. In serious cases of snake 

 bite it is absolutely necessary to use serum, as there is no other 

 antidote, or even partial antidote, for snake venom poisoning. 



Foreign Sera. 



Serum prepared from horses rendered immune to the venoms 

 of foreign snakes is so weak in its antidotal powers against the 



