78 THE LAND-MARKS OF 



the lower animals is the employment of the 

 dried poison in the smallest fatal dose, whereby 

 plenty of time is afforded the remedy to mani- 

 fest its effects. 



The following are Fontana's deductions re- 

 garding the physiological action of the poison, 

 and they are well worthy of notice. 



Fontana's views First, he asserts, that the poison has no direct 



as to the , , , , , 



physiological action upon the nerves — that they neither are 



action of * ^ "^ ^ 



venom. affccted, nor are they the vehicle by which any 

 change is wrought in the animal. On the other 

 hand, it is proved, that the blood is the medium 

 by which the body is affected. He, however, 

 considered that the changes were on the blood 

 alone, and that death was the result of its spon- 

 taneous coagulation. This theory is opposed to 

 facts, as he himself states in the first part of 

 his work. The heart, he says, is the last affected. 

 This is certainly true, for the fact has been 

 clearly demonstrated by more recent investiga- 

 tions. 



Ho modifies He modifies his theory regarding the effect 

 of the poison on muscular irritability, and states : 

 " I did not know when I wrote the first part of 

 this work that the venom of the viper has no 



