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THE LAND-MARKS OF 



Fayrer had 

 drawn atten- 

 tion to the 

 primary con- 

 vulsion of 

 daboia-poison- 

 ing in 1868, 



cause death in the above mentioned forms. It 

 is, indeed, death from blood-poisoning. " The 

 animal has very few nervous symptoms, very 

 likely none at all, but on the second day he 

 appears ill, refuses food, has diarrhoea, his urine 

 contains albumen, and he may linger on in this 

 state for days, dying exhausted, or some acute 

 complication may supervene, causing death rapid- 

 ly. It may be an sedematous condition of 

 the lungs or a haemorrhagic condition of the 

 system generally that proves fatal. Hoemorr- 

 hages may take place from lungs, stomach, 

 rectum, kidneys, and even skin. Sir Joseph 

 Fayrer, in a paper on the nature of snake-poison, 

 which he read recently before the Medical 

 Society of London, of which he is President, 

 says — :" In 1868 I described the action of cobra 

 and daboia venom in the case of two horses bitten 

 by these snakes. I also pointed out the peculiar 

 action of daboia-venom in causing early con- 

 vulsions. In some the convulsions are more 

 marked, and in others death is preceded by a 

 more decided state of lethargy .... Dr. 

 Wall gives a more complete exposition of the 

 varying eiFects, and shews them to be greater 

 than I supposed." Dr. Wall summarises the 



