346 VENOMS 



" On May 29 and following days the oedema continued to dim- 

 inish, and had totally disappeared eight or ten days later. 



"Kecovery was complete by about June 15. The child was 

 discharged on June 23, 1904. 



"It seemed to us worth while to report this case, in order to 

 emphasise the conclusion that forces itself upon us, namely that 

 in all cases of bites from poisonous snakes an injection of Calmette's 

 serum should be given, without considering the ef&cacy of this 

 therapeutic agent as being rendered doubtful by the length of time 

 that may have elapsed since the bite was inflicted. 



" In the present case, as we have seen, there was extensive 

 intoxication, which had seriously affected the functions of the 

 various organs, since we found cardiac arhythmia and pulmonary 

 oedema, and that the patient was threatened with collapse, algidity, 

 hypothermia, and anuria. Impregnation by the virus having 

 continued for seven hours, we might have felt ourselves justified, 

 on the one hand in merely employing the proper means for the 

 relief of the general condition, on the other hand in treating the 

 local condition, without havmg recourse to the serotherapeutic 

 method, that seems to us in this case, in so far as it is permissible 

 to make such a statement, to have been the determining factor in 

 the recovery." 



XXVI. — Case recorded by Dr. Lapeyre, of Fontainebleau (from 

 L'Abeille de Fontainehleau of June 27, 1902). 



"M. X., who arrived at Fontainehleau on Sunday morning with 

 a friend, keeps grass snakes at home, in Paris ; he finds his hobby 

 as good a means as any other to remind him of the forest and its 

 charms. Human nature includes all kinds of tastes, so that this 

 particular one need not be further discussed. 



" The journey, therefore, had a twofold object : firstly to spend 

 a whole day in sunshine and in the open air, and secondly to 

 catch grass snakes to add to the collection. 



" On leaving the train, our Parisian walked up the Am^lie Road, 

 and saw a snake under a rock. Never doubting that it was one 



