POISON OF SOME INDIAN VENOMOUS SNAKES. 39 



becoming weaker ; began to be convulsed ; gradually becoming 

 more and more paralysed. 

 4.45. In convulsions. Dead. 



Experiment XIIT. 



May 19th. — Dried cobra-poison, dissolved in liquor ammonise, 

 injected into a guinea-pig's hip at 3.42. 



Twitching at 3.43. Eestless. 



4. Twitching ; restless ; weak in hind leg. 



4.8. A little more injected with a full quantity of ammonia. 

 The guinea-pig becomes immediately very restless. 



4.15. Paralysed. Going into convulsions. Pinching foot at 

 once causes reflex action; marked reflex actions all over the 

 body. 



4.20. Nearly dead. Heart disturbed ; continued to beat 

 regularly for some minutes after death. Lungs much congested. 



Influence of Constitution on the Action of the Poison. Su2)posed 

 immunity of the Mongoose. 



With cobra-venom, as with other poisons, there is a general 

 correspondence between the size of the animal and the intensity 

 of the effects of a given quantity of poison, a small animal being 

 more readily afiected by it than a large one. There are, how- 

 ever, some exceptions to this rule; for a cat will resist the 

 action of cobra-poison as much as, or more than, a dog five or 

 six times its size. (Compare Experiment LVII with Experi- 

 ment XLIV.) 



The mongoose {Herpestes griseus) has long been supposed to 

 be unaffected by the poison of venomous snakes, either on 

 account of some peculiarity in the constitution of the animal, 

 or, as the story used to run, on account of its knowledge of some 

 herb which it used to eat as an antidote ; but such is not the 

 case. If fairly bitten, it succumbs like any other creature, as 

 proved by experiments in India {Thanatophidia, pp. 68, 69, and 

 134). Its great activity and vigour enable it to elude the 

 snake ; and generally, when it is wounded, it is merely 



