564 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIL 



the thigh, though the envenomed puncture had been made in the 

 foot. These experiments merely confirmed those made by Vincent 

 Richards, who performed no less than 100 operations in the early 

 eighties of last century, and those of Fayrer reported in 1882. 



After reading, and studying a copiotis literature on experimental 

 work, there seems only one conclusion to be drawn, and that is, that 

 no method of procedure, whether prophylactic, symptomatic, or 

 so-called antidotal, will avert the fatal issue in cobra bite, 

 where the dose injected is supralethal, except the injection of 

 antivenene. One might, I think, discard the consideration of treat- 

 ment altogether in cobra bite cases where antivenene has not been 

 injected, and arrive at a faithful estimate of the percentage of 

 fatalities. 



Antivenene. — The first steps towards the discovery of this antidote 

 appears to have originated with Sewall in 1886, who proved that an 

 animal could acquire a tolerance for snake poison, till a dose in 

 excess of the ordinarily fatal one carried no ill-efiects. Kaufmann 

 in 1889, Kanthackin 1891, Phisalix and Bertrand in 1893, Calmette 

 in 1894, and Fraser in 1895 confirmed Sewall's results, and Fraser 

 succeeded to the extent of conferring on rabbits a toleration to 50 

 times the usual minimal lethal dose. Calmette, and Phisalix and 

 Bertrand in 1894 and Fraser in 1895 proved that the serum of an 

 immunised animal possessed antidotal properties and Fraser called 

 the product antivenene. In Kasauli where antivenene is prepared 

 for issue in India, the horse is immunised, and when accomplished to 

 a high degree, the animal is bled and the serum separated. 



One cc of the serum as issued is capable of neutralising 1 mgm. 

 of cobra venom, and the dose recommended for injection into the 

 veins by Lamb and Martin is at least 100 cc* 



Antivenene has been experimented with on the lower animals, 

 into which a known quantity of cobra venom in excess of the 

 minimal lethal dose has been injected, and the animals have been 

 saved from an otherwise inevitable death. 



It is extremely disappointing however to find on studying the 

 statistics of snakebite fatalities published yearly in the Reports of 

 the Sanitary Commissioner, Government of India, that the mortality 

 in cases of ophitoxsemia cases has been scarcely reduced since the 

 introduction of this remedy. The figures available are all the more 

 discouraging because the circumstances under which the cases have 

 been treated have been peculiarly favourable, the cases having 

 occurred in the British or Native Army, or in Jails where medical 

 assistance is available at all times, and within a few minutes, 

 and antivenene always to hand. The three conditions laid down for 

 successful treatment are — (1) the injection should be made as soon 



* Loc, cit. 



