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Snake venoms and the treatment of snake bites. Dr. Calmette, of the 

 Pasteur Institute, succeeded in proving that snake venoms act upon 

 the body and are reacted against by the tissues like any other toxins. 

 From this it has followed that antitoxic sera may be developed for 

 different snake poisons, the antivenins, which are able to neutralize 

 t le poisons and thus confer certain degrees of passive immunity. When 

 t lis subject has been thoroughly worked out, we may have specific and 

 s ire remedies for all snake poisons, and this will do away with the 

 old, ineffectual remedies whisky, sucking the wound (very dangerous 

 unless the mouth is perfectly sound), or instant ligature above the bite 

 and quick excision of the poisoned tissues. 1 



1 NOGOUCHI, " Snake Venoms," Publication 111, Carnegie Institution, 

 A Washington, 1909. 



