NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS SUB- 

 STANCES IN DESTROYING THE ACTIVITY 

 OF COBRA-POISON. 



By T. Lauder Beunton, M.D., P.E.S., and Sir Joseph Fayree, 

 KC.S.I., M.D., F.E.S. 



(Eeprinted from the Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xxvii, p. 465, 1878.) 

 Received June 20tli, 1878. 



In a paper read some time ago before this Society by Mr. Pedler, 

 he mentioned his discovery of the fact that the activity of cobra- 

 poison was completely destroyed by admixture with perchloride 

 of platinum. This substance, however, could only be regarded 

 as a chemical and not as a physiological antidote to the poison, 

 inasmuch as it had no power to modify or prevent the action of 

 the venom after its absorption into the blood. Mr. Pedler 

 expressed his opinion that the proper method of pursuing the 

 investigation was to investigate separately the action of platinum 

 salts and of cobra-poison upon the animal body. In the discus- 

 sion which followed we stated that the method proposed by 

 Mr. Pedler was, in the present instance, not likely to lead to 

 any results, and that, as the action of the substance employed 

 by him was in all probability due to its simply forming an 

 insoluble compound with the cobra-poison and not to any action 

 of the platinum 'per se, certain other metallic salts would have 

 a similar action to the perchloride of platinum. Experiments 

 have confirmed the opinion we then expressed,* and we find 

 the action of chloride of gold is precisely similar to that of 

 perchloride of platinum, the cobra-venom being rendered 

 entirely inert by admixture with the gold salt before its 

 injection into the body. Chloride of gold, however, like per- 

 chloride of platinum, is merely a chemical antidote, and does 

 not modify the action of the venom after its absorption into 



* A. W. Blyth, M.R.C.S., "The Poison of the Cobra," The Analyst, Feb- 

 ruary 28th, 1877, p. 204. 



