76 INDIAN SNAKE POISONS, 



describing cases of cobra-poisoning. I am, however, 

 satisfied that it does sometimes occur, having seen it 

 once in a very slight degree. But it is so rare that; it 

 cannot be considered as anything but very exceptional ; 

 and it will not be going too far to say that in dogs it 

 is as rare to see salivation in daboia-poisoning as it is 

 to see it absent in cobra-poisoning. 



In daboia-poisoning there is a good deal of evidence 

 to be considered as to the efl'eet of the poison on the 

 blood. It is almost universally found that the blood 

 is incoagulable ; the only exceptions being when an 

 animal dies almost instantaneously from the convulsions, 

 and also when it dies after a very long interval from 

 exhaustion. The first condition is often found in fowls, 

 and the second in robust animals which have had only 

 a small quantity of poison administered to them. In 

 the first class of cases it is probable that sufficient time 

 has not elapsed for blood changes to occur ; in the 

 second the blood has had time, to a certain extent, to 

 regain its normal character, for in these cases the 

 coagulation is somewhat imperfect. In addition to the 

 loss of coagulability of, the blood, even in the lower 

 animals, we have proof that the relation of the blood to 

 the tissues is altered. Even in rapid cases of daboia- 

 poisoning, hsemorrhages from the mucous membranes 

 are exceedingly common. Exudations of blood beneath 

 the conjunctiva and mucous membrane of the mouth 

 are also sometimes seen. So grave are the changes in 



