THEIE NATUEE AND EFFECTS. 67 



3.32 P.M. Lying down. 



3.34 P.M. Drowsy. 



3.35 P.M. Head drooping. 



3.36 P.M. Beak resting on ground ; unable to stand; 

 eyelids closed ; pupils contracted. 



3.37 P.M. Unable to lift head from ground. 

 3.40 P.M. Convulsions ; eyes watering. 

 3.42 P.M. Dead. 



Now, in these two experiments the greatest care was 

 taken to ensure the conditions being exactly the same, 

 as regards the amount of poison, the quantity of fluid,, 

 and the exact spot into which it was injected. More- 

 over, to avoid accidental sources of fallacy, the 

 experiment was repeated, with the unfailing result that 

 with daboia-poison the subject of the experiment died at 

 once in convulsions ; while in cobra-poisoning the bird 

 went through the course of gradual paralysis, and after 

 respiration was extinguished had the convulsions of 

 asphyxia and died. 



These convulsions, therefore, are in no way due to the 

 injection of the poison into a vein, or to the slight 

 stimulation of nerve centres that is seen in cobra- 

 poisoning immediately before paralysis. The next 

 question is, are these convulsions in any way dependent 

 on asphyxia, like those met with in cobra-poisoning, 

 when the poison has been absorbed in the usual way ? 

 If the tracings Series No. 6 be examined, some evidence 

 on the subject will be obtained. It is a continuous 



6 * 



