36 INDIAN SNAKE POISONS, 



and then gradually fade away in gentler and gentler 

 attempts at inspiration. The cat is an animal that 

 shows a peculiar power of resisting cobra-poison, pre- 

 senting a marked contrast to the dog. Chart No. IV. is 

 from a cat, in whom this resisting power was prominent. 

 After the retardation of respiration is accomplished, it 

 ■will be noticed that an occasional deep respiration 

 occurred ; it is as if the animal, aware of its lessen- 

 ing breathing power, made conscious efforts to assist 

 respiration. A similar feature appears to have been 

 frequently noticed in the human subject, under like 

 circumstances. 



The series of tracings in Chart V. shows graphically 

 the instantly destructive action of cobra-poison on the 

 respiratory function, when a large quantity of the poison 

 suddenly enters the circulation. They are taken from a 

 dog, in whom the following observations were made. 



Experiment XII. 



A powerful pariah dog had one cubic centimetre of 

 fresh cobra-poison injected into its saphena vein. No 

 change was noticed for thirty seconds ; at the end of 

 that time normal respiration abruptly stopped, its 

 place being taken by violent and irregular contractions 

 of the respiratory muscles. The action of the heart 

 continued strong, but increased greatly in frequency. 

 Very soon all movement ceased, with the exception of 

 that of the heart, which continued acting for about ten 



