6 INTRODUCTION. 
in its pages more matter than has ever yet been collated into one 
volume upon the subject, Ophidians; that the physician may find 
herein in a single mass of facts all that is as yet known, and all 
the reliable matter hitherto published in any work about snake- 
poisons and their action in a pathological and in a toxicological 
sense; and some facts about their nature which have never been 
mentioned heretofore by any one who has made the subject a 
study ; and that the general reader may find, in the ensuing 
pages, wherewith to pass an agreeable hour, and herein to add 
some new and interesting facts to his store of general information. 
As yet but little is known about the action of serpent-poisons, 
so that every contribution to science in this sense adds to the 
knowledge already acquired. The Author hopes that if anything 
really new is contributed in this volume it may serve as an incen- 
tive to some one else, better qualified by scientific attainments 
than himself, to make further and more exhaustive studies in this 
branch ; and that this interest may not cease until our knowledge 
on this point shall have become complete in every respect. 
In cold climates, where few really venomous snakes exist, this 
subject is of little general interest; but in the tropics, where one 
is everywhere, both by night and by day, liable to be bitten by 
one of these repugnant reptiles, it becomes a matter of life and 
death. 
In pursuing this study I had occasion to visit London, and 
while there had access to the British Museum Library. This is. 
an institution of which England may boast with pride. 
I went there a perfect stranger, and after going through a 
simple formality I was surrounded with every possible convenience 
and attention by the admirable regulations, so well and efficiently 
carried out by the gentlemanly superintendent of the reading- 
