120 SIR JOSEPH FAYRER, K.C.S.I., ETC., 



possible, up to man. This conviction impelled the writer, after 

 assuring himself of the correctness of his theory of the action of 

 snake poison, to overstep all the animals and proceed straightway 

 with experiments on man, by administering boldly and fearlessly 

 strychnine in large doses to persons in extremis from snake-bite. 

 When a human being is in th's condition, and sure to succumb 

 to the insidious venom under any treatment medical skill has 

 yet devised, a little risk is justifiable, when it holds out a reason- 

 able chance of success. I did not hesitate to take this risk by 

 administei'ing strychnine in one-sixth-of-a-grain doses, at short 

 intervals, and the result I consider to be a glorious triumph of 

 scientific deduction, now acknowledged as such throughout the 

 Australian colonies, and ere many years have passed, to be 

 acknowledged throughout the scientific world. 



11 It is a subject of extreme regret, that a few unfavo arable ex- 

 periments with strychnine on snake-poisoned dogs, made years ago 

 under unfavourable conditions, by experimenters having but vague 

 notions of the modus operandi of snake poison, should stand in the 

 way of the strychnine ti*eatment being adopted in India, since there 

 cannot be the shadow of a doubt that the fearful mortality at the 

 rate of over 20,000 human beings per year, mentioned by Sir 

 Joseph Fayrer, would be considerably reduced if the Indian 

 Government not only made the use of the antidote compulsory to 

 medical men, but also took steps to place it within the reach of 

 the natives. Any intelligent person may be taught how to apply a 

 ligature, cut out the bitten skin, and inject the antidote. There 

 is scarcely a settlement in the Australian bush now where it is not 

 kept in pocket-cases containing likewise hypodermic syringe and 

 printed directions for use. Some of the vendors of these cases 

 have added a strong ligature, a pair of scissors to cut out the bite, 

 and even a patent sucker for the more effectual elimination of the 

 poison. The Government did nothing in the matter, but the 

 people helped themselves. Many cases of snake-bite are now 

 successfully treated by laymen too far from the nearest medical 

 man to procure his services in time, and it often happens that 

 when the doctor arrives his patient is out of danger. The native 

 population of India is not likely to follow the Australian example, 

 and it therefore devolves on the Indian Government to initiate a 

 movement so urgently called for, and much more likely to stem 

 the great mortality from snake-bite in India than vain efforts to 

 exterminate the reptiles. 



12 That strychnine will save life under all circumstances, its 

 most enthusiastic advocate does not venture to assert. No physio- 

 logical antidote can be expected to accomplish that task, and a 

 chemical one we are not likely to discover. Strychnine can cope 

 with a fatal dose of snake poison, but when a quantity equal to three 

 or four fatal doses, such as a powerful cobra gives off at one bite, 

 has been absorbed, corresponding quantities of the antidote are 



