THE SERUM TREATMENT AND ITS LIMITATIONS. 399 



faith is misplaced in spite of apparent recoveries from snake 

 bite after the administration of one or other of these " cures." 



The Serum Treatment and its Limitations. 



The serum treatment of snake bite has been made highly- 

 efficient of late. However, many difficulties still beset the path 

 of the scientific investigator. The main obstacle is the difficulty 

 of obtaining sufficient venom, and the extreme care which is 

 required to be exercised in the process of rendering animals 

 immune. Even with the greatest care, the horses and mules 

 which are usually used do not always survive the ordeal. At 

 other times frightful ulcers form at the seat of the injection of 

 venom, and frequently the flesh sloughs away more or less 

 extensively. The aim is to make the animal immune to as large 

 a dosage of the mixed venoms of various species of snakes as 

 possible. 



For instance, the serum from a horse which has been rendered 

 immune to a hundred ordinarily fatal doses of venom is twice 

 as strong in its venom-killing powers as the serum from a 

 horse which is immune to fifty ordinarily fatal doses of venom. 

 Every year progress is made, and there can be little doubt 

 that before long a better method of immunizing animals will 

 be discovered, and a serum of equal strength in smaller volume 

 will be prepared. 



The anti-venene now prepared is the only substance which 

 is of any value in destroying snake venom after it has entered 

 the blood circulation. The more copiously it is injected the 

 better chance there will be of recovery. If the venom has begun 

 its onslaught upon the nerve centres or blood, or both, liberal 

 quantities of serum will need to be injected to overtake and 

 neutralize its death-dealing powers. I would advise medical 

 practitioners to inject not less than 20 c.c. direct into a vein 

 if bad symptoms of poisoning have set in, and to inject a 

 second dose after an interval. Those, other than medical men, 

 should carefully practise injecting water into dead animals' 

 veins and under the skin, so that they may know exactly what 

 to do and how to do it should occasion arise. A dead plucked 

 fowl is a good subject to practise upon. If a little permanganate 

 is added to the water previous to injection under the skin, it 



