THE ANTIDOTE. 45 



the doses in which it is injected and the intervals 

 between thein must be left to the practitioner's judg- 

 ment, as they depend in every case on the quantity of 

 snake-poison absorbed, the time elapsed since its in- 

 ception and the corresponding greater or lesser urgency 

 of the symptoms. If the latter denote a large dose to 

 have been imparted and it has been in the system for 

 hours, delay is dangerous and nothing less than 16 

 minims of liq. strychnise P.B., in very urgent cases 

 evea 20 to 25 minims should be injected to any person 

 over 15 years of age. Even children may require these 

 large doses, as they are determined by the quantity of 

 the poison they have to counteract and are kept in 

 check by it. The action of the antidote is so prompt 

 and decisive that not more than 15 to 20 minutes need 

 to elapse, after the first injection, before further 

 measures can be decided on. If the poisoning symp- 

 toms show no abatement by that time, a second 

 injection of the same strength should be made 

 promptly, and unless after it a decided improvement 

 is perceptible, a third one after the same interval. 

 As the action of strychnine when applied as anti- 

 dote is not cumulative, no fear needs to be entertained 

 of violent effects suddenly breaking out after these 

 large doses repeated at short intervals. They 

 are, so to say, swallowed up by the snake-poison 

 and remain latent except in counteracting the latter. 

 This has now been proven abundantly by scores of 

 qualified observers in all parts of Australia, and still 

 more by Banerjee in India. No hesitation, therefore. 



