SNAKE-POISON LITERATURE. 87 



quantity of the blood, but- if two or three drops 

 of venom be mixed with forty or fifty drops of 

 blood, it immediately loses its vermilion colour, 

 becomes black, and incapable of coagulation." 



4ith. — " It is a very remarkable circumstance 

 that the poison of the serpent has most power 

 over those animals whose blood is the warmest, 

 and the action of whose heart is the most lively ; 

 while, on the contrary, it is not a poison to the 

 snake itself, nor in general to cold-blooded ani- 

 mals. The reason appears to be this ; cold- 

 blooded animals do not require a large quantity 

 of oxygen to preserve them in health, this is 

 evident from the conformation of their heart, 

 and respiratory organs, as already mentioned." 



Therefore, as I have before pointed out, Mr. 

 Boag concludes that death from snake-bite 

 simply arises from the abstraction of the oxygen 

 from the blood. 



The first argument requires no special notice, 

 but the second contains inaccuracies ; the blood 

 may or may not coagulate in cases of snake- 

 poisoning, and it certainly d'oes not generally 

 coagulate about the heart and larger vessels, 

 nor is there usually, in my experience, any par- 



