484 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



both were well." There had been two cobras with this 

 mongoose during the night " both equally fierce, striking 

 each other and the mongoose, but the latter was not poisoned. 

 He was scratched by the cobra rather severely on the head. 

 But on being bitten in the thigh by the same cobra, when both 

 were taken out of the cage, " the mongoose succumbed to the 

 poison very rapidly." Again, Dr. Davy reports a case where 

 '■' a cobra, 5 feet long, bit a hen, fixing its fangs in the skin 

 covering the lower point of the left pectoral muscle, and 

 keeping its hold about two or three seconds." The hen died 

 after eight hours. Compare with this Fayrer s fowl that was 

 bitten "by a large cobra in the thigh fell into convulsions 

 immediately and died in 50 seconds." The literature on the 

 cobra is full of similar conflicting results following its bite ; 

 it is obvious that if such occur in lower animals during 

 experiment, they will occur also in the human subjects 

 bitten by accident. Speaking of this uncertainty, Fayrer 

 says " snakes frequently strike, and even wound without 

 poisoning." 



There is abundant evidence to show that snakes like the 

 cobra, which are known to be capable of delivering a mortal 

 wound/frequently fail to do so, though they may inject poison 

 in considerable quantity. Vincent Richard says : " a man or 

 an animal may be very seriously poisoned by a rattlesnake, 

 or indeed by any snake, and yet recover under subjection to 

 various or even no treatment." Weir Mitchell cites an 

 experiment with a dog, which he says " has especial value as 

 showing how exceedingly grave may be the signs of poisoning, 

 and yet how rapid and complete may be the rally and 

 escape. At one stage the dog was lying on the floor, scarcely 

 breathing, and nearlv pulseless." I could multiply instances 

 " ad libitum.'' So far as the human subject is concerned there 

 are many cases of cobra bite recorded where no ill-effects 

 were produced, or symptoms of varying severity not ending 

 in death, though no treatment was attempted. Dr. Davy, 

 after remarking that the effects of cobra bite " vary a good 

 deal according to circumstances not easy to calculate," says : 

 " I have seen several men who have recovered from the bite 



