ABSORPTION OF VENOM. 387 



of injecting many times a fatal dose if the bite be full and com- 

 plete, but as I have already pointed out the snake does not always 

 get an opportunity of driving both its fangs right home into the 

 flesh of a human being. 



However, experiments by Dr. Brunton and other well-known 

 investigators have shown that although even ten fatal doses be 

 injected into a cat or monkey, if the wound be instantly scarified, 

 treated with permanganate of potash and ligatured, recovery 

 usually took place. The only conclusion we can arrive at from 

 the results of these experiments and those of a similar nature which 

 I have conducted is, that if a human being be bitten by a veno- 

 mous snake, and even ten ordinary fatal doses of venom injected, 

 the person would recover if instantly treated with permanganate 

 of potash and ligatures. I cannot, however, claim that the 

 prompt application of permanganate and ligatures always saved 

 the lives of the bitten animals. About sixty per cent, recovered. 

 Those not treated always died. The animals which usually died 

 were those fully bitten by Cobras or injected with from ten to 

 fifteen fatal doses of their venom. 



Absorption of Venom. 



It has been asserted that the venom, after injection into the 

 tissues, enters the circulation so rapidly that local applications 

 would be futile. This has been proven to be the case with such 

 animals as fowls, rabbits, and guinea pigs, whose organizations 

 are extremely sensitive to the venom of snakes, but not neces- 

 sarily so with higher animals, except, of course, when a vein 

 is punctured, or an unusually large dose of venom is injected. 



When venom is injected into the tissues, for the first few 

 seconds rapid absorption takes place, owing to the intense 

 irritation of the venom on the surrounding tissues and the mouths 

 of the lymphatics. 



However, the tissues around the punctures quickly become 

 congested, and absorption of the venom then occurs more slowly. 

 The application of permanganate of potash not only destroys 

 all the venom it actually comes in contact with in the wounds, 

 but owing to its cauterizing action, the power of absorption from 

 the parts thus treated, is practically stopped and the wounds 

 sterilized. 



