5o8 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



venom is got rid of and its place taken by the salt solution, which 

 keeps the heart beating vigorously until the body is able to 

 manufacture a fresh supply of blood to replace that which has 

 been drained out. Many valuable lives have, in this way, been 

 saved in cases of ordinary haemorrhage, from a severed artery 

 for instance. The principal immediate danger of the loss of 

 blood is nothing more nor less than the loss of fluid to keep the 

 heart stimulated. 



Pure water is never injected, either direct into a vein or under 

 the skin for any purpose, for the reason that it cau-cs pain and 

 irritation. Salt must always be added to it. 



When any parts of the body of an animal are required for 

 study, such as nerves or portions of muscles, if they are placed in 

 pure water they soon die, but if immersed in a saline solution they 

 will keep alive for hours, only to die of starvation eventually. 

 For instance, if a snake is killed and the heart is at once taken 

 out and placed in pure water, it wall very soon cease to beat, 

 but if put into a saUne solution it will continue to beat for a long 

 time — often a whole day. 



Thus it will be seen what a valuable aid we have in the saline 

 solution, in the treatment of snake bite, in the absence of anti- 

 venene serum. 



J. 



Injecting Ammonia for Snake Bite. 



The Eastern Province Herald, Port Elizabeth, recently had the 

 following : " Lecturing recently at Durban before the Natal 

 Scientilic Society on ' Some Snakes and their Poison,' Dr. Schulz 

 explained that while alcohol applied externally and internally 

 had been proved ineffective, and caustic potash injected on the 

 bite also failed to cure, the strongest solution of ammonia diluted 

 to one-half with water had scored unfailing success as poison 

 destroyer. He mentioned three cases of cure by this means, 

 and had no failures to record. A hypodermic syringe and two 

 half-ounce bottles of diluted ammonia, the second a reserve 

 bottle, could be packed up in the space occupied by a match-box." 



Result of Experiments on this Theory. 

 Diluting the ammonia, as stated above, I tested the solution 

 on various animals, but it exerted absolutely no curative effect. 

 If an animal was injected with a fatal dose of venom, it always 



