1894 The Zoologist — November, 1869. 



possible to Newcastle for medical aid : on the way she was directed 

 to Dr. Irwin, Lake Macquarie-road, whom she fonnd at home. The 

 doctor, seeing it was a bad case, immediately had recourse to Dr. 

 Halford's remedy : he at first scarified the wound, and poured some 

 ammonia iuto it: following up the Professor's directions he also 

 opened a vein above the wrist, and with a syringe injected a quantity 

 of ammonia into it; he then kept the patient in constant motion, 

 notwithstanding which, however, at intervals, she appeared to be 

 almost overcome with drowsiness, and at one time very nearly gave 

 way to sleep. Dr. Irwin, with most commendable perseverance, then 

 look the woman by the arm and walked her round the room till two 

 o'clock in the morning, when she rallied, the drowsiness having left 

 her. On Thursday she appeared to have quite recovered, Ind re- 

 turned home. 



It is usually understood that the bite of brown snakes is excessively 

 dangerous : these results are of the highest interest, and arc most 

 promising. They will, of course, attract the immediate attention of 

 our Indian readers, and we shall hope to receive early confirmatory 

 reports of the efficacy of the ammonia injections, which should, of 

 course, be carefully employed, and of no greater strength and quantity 

 than that recommended. 



I will now extract, from the ' Indian Medical Journal' for February, 

 Dr. Fayrer's experiments, made in consequence of Col. Showers' com- 

 munication already quoted : — 



" Col. Showers having very kindly brought the man who adminis- 

 tered the antidote to Calcutta, and expressed his wish that its effects 

 should be tested, I accordingly, with the assistance of three gentle- 

 men, proceed to make the following experiments, the kelaree (snake- 

 man) having been allowed to make any preparation that he deemed 

 necessary on the day preceding, and in the morning of the day on 

 which the experiments were performed. It is right to note that he 

 says, on the day of the experiments, that the antidote he has now with 

 him is not the most potent one he knows, but that, owing to the 

 absence of rain, he had not been able to jjrocure it, as the drought had 

 prevented the growth of the plants from which it is derived. He ex- 

 pressed his belief that the drug he had with him would prove suffi- 

 cient to counteract the influence of snake-poison. Accordingly a 

 pariah dog was made over to him, and he administered to it a small 

 piece of whitish-looking root, pounded and put in a piece of meat; 

 this the dog (which was a full-grown pariah) ate readily. The kelaree 



