THBIK NATURE AND EFFECTS. 21 



and, on the other hand, fanged harmless snakes, like 

 Lycodon and Dipsas, may leave punctures in the skin 

 that might easily be mistaken for the wounds caused by 

 the fangs of venomous snakes. And more misguiding, 



•if possible, than any of these, is the victim's description 

 of the snake. From these various causes it often 

 happens that a man is left without an attempt at treat- 

 ment because the bite is not visible or does not look 



• like that inflicted by a venomous snake, or because 

 there are no symptoms. Now we know that symptoms 

 may not occur till more than an hour has passed, when 

 all chance of preventing the absorption of the poison 

 has gone. On the other hand severe measures have 

 been resorted to, even ending fatally, when it has been 

 proved afterwards that the subject had not been bitten 

 by a poisonous snake at all. It is therefore of great 

 importance to be enabled to say whether a man has 

 really been poisoned as well as bitten by a snake. This 

 can be done by simply observing the condition of the 

 tissues into which the poison has been injected. No 

 ordinary wounds, not even a poisoned wound such as is 

 received in dissections, can cause the immediate inflam- 

 mation that is peculiar to snake poison. In a simple 

 or even ordinary poisoned wound a very considerable 

 time would elapse before any marked change would be 

 noWceable. In the vast majority of cases a simple 

 incision through the skin into the subcutaneous areolar 

 tissue will afford certain information whether the case is 



