90 THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 



CjEruleds Toxemia. 



The action of the venom as tested by experiment by both Lamb 

 and Rogers is found to be almost identical with cobra poison. 

 The respiratory centre, and the ends of the phrenic nerves are 

 paralysed, and death supervenes from asphyxia. On the blood it 

 has no action in reducing coagulability, but the red blood cells are 

 •destroj^ed as in ether Colubrine poisons. The local effects are 

 sometimes marked ; on the other hand these have been so trivial 

 in some reported cases that none could be discovered. Pain at 

 first absent has sometimes later become a prominent symptom. 



Fi'om the above one would expect to find the subject of Krait 

 poisoning, suffering in almost the same manner as in cobra 

 poisoning. One peculiarity, however, is very frequently reported, 

 i.e., violent abdominal pain. 



The fact that Elliot found submucous ha3morrhagic s]jots in the 

 stomach and intestine of all the monkej-s he post-mortemed who 

 •died from experiment with this venom, taken in conjunction with 

 the abdominal pain so frequently noted in the human subject 

 strongly suggests internal hasmorrhage. As shown when dealing 

 with UcMs toxEemia internal hagmorrhages are by no means 

 uncommon, and it maybe that " hsemorrhagin " causes internal 

 bleeding in this toxasmia in the human subject. In case No. 3 

 indeed definite haemorrhages are reported, though the toxaemia 

 appeared slight 



Illustrative Cases. 



No. 1. 



Bite from krait over 3 feet long. Toxaemia. Death in 12 

 hours. 



Eeported by Assistant Surgeon Jadul Kristo Sen. {Indhm 

 MeAical Gazette, February, 1874.) 



Thacoorprasad, Hindoo, male, age about 60 years, was bitten by 

 a snake (krait) on the left index finger, at about 9 o'clock on the 

 night of the loth July, while he was sleeping in a room in the 

 Bulrarapore Maharajah's cooty. 



