PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 305 



al. During the year 1892, in the district of Vidin alone, 

 there died from the sting of gnats : 



Large ruminants 534 



Buffaloes 220 



Horses 52 



Sheep 243 



Goats 446 



Hogs 217 



These numbers represent a mortahty of from 13 to 14 

 per cent of all the ruminants of the district. With the ex- 

 ception of scab-rot, no contagious disease had previously 

 produced such ravages. 



SYMPTOMS. — The aspic viper is more dangerous than 

 the pelias. The former causes very grave injuries, Avhile 

 the bite of the latter is more superficial and its venom less 

 active. The prick does not appear to be very painful, but 

 is followed immediately by a haemorrhagic tumefaction that 

 rapidly extends over the entire surroundings. At the same 

 time general symptoms, — stupor, profuse perspiration, col- 

 ics and diarrhoea, — are observed. The gravity of these bites 

 is real as it is sometimes impossible, in spite of every atten- 

 tion, to save the injured animal. Ki'etschmar saw a bitch 

 die after having been bitten on the lip by a viper; Chanel, 

 a brood mare bitten on the udder; and Roche, 14 sheep out 

 of a flock of 60. 



The serpents of tropical countries inoculate a venom of 

 an intensely poisonous character. Cogan Haaris saw a two- 

 year-old black deer die in two hours after having been bitten 

 by a cobra. Half an hour after the bite the injured animal 

 had lost all power of co-ordination, kept its eyes fixed, fell 

 repeatedly, and rapidly died. The bite of the black naja 

 (a spitting serpent) causes faintness, convulsions and enor- 

 mous swelling of the puncture and its surroundings. Dr. 

 Boye reports a cow that was bitten in the udder by a ceras- 



