PATHOLOGY. 149 



Experiment. — Young kitten, etherized. Abdominal cavity and stomach opened 

 and fresh venom applied to surface of mucous membrane. Specimen watched for 

 half an hour failed to reveal any decided visible changes, beyond a slight corruga- 

 tion and congestion. No eccbymoses. 



The Effect of Crotalus Venom upon Ciliary Motion. — Fresh venom applied to 

 ciliated epithelium taken from the edge of the tunic of a fresh oyster seemed to 

 exert no effect upon ciliary motion, The specimen was watched and compared 

 with the control experiment side by side. The ciliae still kept up their movement 

 at the end of three hours in both specimens. 



Fresh venom was applied to ciliated epithelium taken from the pharynx of a live 

 frog. The specimen was carefully observed and compared with similar preparations 

 in which venom was not used. In the latter the ciliary motion, as a rule, kept up 

 longer. Yet after one hour specimens treated with venom continued to exhibit 

 motion though less vigorous than in the control specimens. 



The Effect of Venom upon Spermatozoa. — Fresh venom applied to spermatozoa 

 taken from alive rabbit seemed to exert a decided influence. Specimens treated with 

 the venom were examined side by side with control specimens, and while in the 

 presence of venom the spermatozoa ceased to exhibit their peculiar movements in 

 from one-quarter to three-quarters of an hour, unpoisoned spermatic particles con- 

 tinued to move for many hours. The venom did not appear to produce any changes 

 in the substance or the bodies of the individual spermatozoa. 1 



The Mechanism of the Hemorrhages as Observed in Venom Poisoning. 



In order to study the mechanism of the hemorrhages Dr. Mitchell's original ob- 

 servations were repeated as follows: — 



The animals used were cats, rabbits, pigeons, white rats, and frogs. The frogs 

 do not give satisfactory results as they withstand the effects very strenuously and 

 if peritoneal hemorrhages occur at all they are very scanty. The most satisfactory 

 observations were obtained when cats were employed, as these animals lived longest 

 after the application of the venom, the latter also acting more slowly, thus permit- 

 ting satisfactory study of the effects under the microscope. 



Anaesthetics were always used. Ether was found- to give the best results. 

 Chloral appeared to retard the effects of the venom. While in an etherized 

 animal peritoneal hemorrhages appeared at once upon the application of the 

 venom, in a chloralized animal they occurred much later, and sometimes failed 

 to appear. 



A few drops, three to six, of a saturated solution of chloral hydrate were usually 

 sufficient to anaesthetize a small kitten or rabbit, two drops for a white rat, one drop 

 for a mouse. It was administered hypodermatically. In administering ether the 

 animal was placed under a bell-glass, with a sponge kept saturated with the agent 

 until the animal was rendered powerless. 



In experiments upon the mesentery to be examined under the microscope, the 



1 The observations were made under an amplification of one thousand diameters. 



