SNAKE-POISON LITEEATURE. 59 



bfeing very enthusiastic in the matter. The 

 theory which Mead adopted was that " venomous 

 animals, when they bite or sting, inflict a wound 

 and instil into it a drop of liquor which infects 

 the fluid of the nerves, and by this means 

 inflames the membranes," etc. In fact, he 

 thought that the poison did not act through the 

 blood, but directly through the nervous system. 

 It is owing to his having enunciated this theory 

 that we find no mention of a ligature having 

 been used before Kempfer recommended, and 

 Fontana adopted, it. Regarding his theory, M ead 

 says, " these experiments " (scanty and unsatis- 

 factory to a degree) " upon the viper poison and 

 the blood are a sufficient confirmation of what 

 has been advanced in the introduction that the 

 nervous liquor only is affected by this venom." dopCTds upon 

 After giving the symptoms, the severity of "nd other"" 

 which, he states, depends on the climate, the 

 season of the year, the greater or less rage of 

 the viper, the size of the reptile and animal 

 bitten, and the depth of the wound, he proceeds 

 to explain why snakes live so long without food. 

 On this point he observes, " owing to the length 

 of time the process of digestion takes, and to 

 the fact that the blood of the snake is a grosser 



Severity of 



conditions. 



