SNAKE-POISON LITERATURE. 115 



" 1st. — That the heart becomes enfeebled soon ^f'^|*t™ 

 after the bite, which is due to the direct influence 

 ^ of the venom on the organ, and not to the pre- 

 cedent loss of the respiratory function. The heart, 

 however, . notwithstanding this loss of power, 

 continues to beat after respiration has ceased, and 

 its tissues remain for a time irritable. 



" ^nd. — Artificial respiration lengthens the life 

 of the heart.but does not sustain it so long as when 

 the animal has died by woorara or decapitation. 



"3rd. — That in the frog the heart-acts continue 

 after respiration has ceased, and sometimes 

 survive until the sensory nerves and the nerve 

 centres are dead, the motor nerves alone remain- 

 ing irritable. 



" 4th. — That in warm-blood animals respira- 

 tion ceases, owing to paralysis of the nerve 

 centres. 



" 5th. — That the sensory nerves, and the centres 

 of nerve power in the medulla spinalis and me- 

 dulla oblongata, lose their ■ vitality before the 

 efferent or motor nerves become affected. 



" 6th. — That the muscular system retains its 

 irritability in the cold-blood animals acutely poi- 

 soned, for a considerable time after death." 



