120 ON THE NATURE AND ACTION OF THE CROTALUS-POISON 



artificial respiration having also been begun. Electrodes 

 applied, with strong current ; no reaction ; the cord was 

 perfectly paralysed. 



Thorax examined at 2.59. Heart had ceased to contract. 

 Ventricles moderately contracted. Auricles distended with 

 blood. Phrenic irritated, quite paralysed. Diaphragm, when 

 directly irritated by current, contracts very faintly, whilst the 

 neighbouring muscles contract vigorously. Peristaltic action 

 goes on. Electrodes applied to vagus appear to accelerate 

 peristaltic action ; applied to splanchnic, they diminish it. 



3.7. Ventricles of heart have now contracted firmly. 



3.15. Blood taken from heart and great vessels has coagulated, 

 but not firmly. The clot is small, and the serum very red. 



3.15. Electrodes to sciatic; no reaction. Blood examined 

 under microscope ; no aggregation in rouleaux, no crenation of 

 corpuscles. Blood neutral to test-paper. 



We have in former papers remarked that when the cobra- 

 poison was injected into the jugular vein directly and caused 

 almost immediate death, that the fatal result was due to 

 cessation of the heart's action by arrest in systole, and such was 

 partially the case in the last experiment (VII), made for the 

 purpose of comparison with Crotalus ; but in Experiment VI 

 death was not so caused, for the heart continued to contract 

 for about 28 minutes after apparent death, which was probably 

 due to the sudden and total annihilation of the functions of 

 the medulla and cord, no reaction to a strong current occurring 

 when the electrodes were applied immediately after apparent 

 death. 



In this instance of Crotalus-^oi^oTimg it is also to be remarked 

 that the coagulability of the blood was destroyed, whilst in that 

 by cobra- virus it was only partially so. 



It appears from the results of this experiment that the direct 

 inoculation of large doses of the virus, whether viperine or 

 colubrine, into the circulation have the power in some cases 

 of annihilating almost instantaneously the irritability of the 

 cord and medulla, as in others they have of arresting the heart's 

 action. 



