after Death from Snake-bite. 89 
Now, the post-mortem appearances in those who have died 
in the severe or cold stage of cholera present nothing but an 
altered state of the blood, which is usually black and fluid ; 
indeed, blood drawn from an artery in this stage is black, 
and Schmidt has found the amount of oxygen contained in 
the blood corpuscles lessened by one-half. 
In a former part of this paper I have said that the snake- 
bitten man breathes, oxygen is absorbed, combustion occurs, 
but where is the heat? Referring to cholera, Dr. Parkes 
evidently had similar thoughts, he says: “ But as the 
mechanical part of respiration remains perfect, and as there 
is no impairment in the voluntary command of the respira- 
tory muscles, and as the heart evidently beats in many 
eases till stopped by the want of blood on the left side, 
we are compelled to look for the cause of such arrest 
of the circulation in the only remaining element of respira- 
tion, namely, in the blood itself.”* | 
I may allude here to those singular muscular contractions 
which occasionally happen after death by cholera, and quote 
from the writings of my late friend and colleague, Fred. 
W. Barlow. You will find his papers in the London 
Medical Gazette from 1848 to 1850. He mentions instances 
of convulsions in India after death by cholera in the corpses 
of soldiers, which were so violent that their comrades, “in 
order to calm the timid, bound the limbs to the bed-frame.” 
Again, ‘“‘ A gentleman who died in 1832 of rapid cholera, 
was turned after death completely on the side by a strange 
and forcible combination of muscular action.” And “ muscular 
contractions, after death, took place to a remarkable extent 
in a man who died from cholera at Grosvenor-place, in 
Bristol. The fore-arms were powerfully flexed, and the 
hands approximating, gave the attitude of praying to the 
body. No other parts were affected.” Lastly, “A young 
man died of cholera. In ten minutes (while I, Mr. N. B. 
Ward, of Clapham, was talking to his bereaved mother), I 
was quickly summoned by the nurse, who told me that my 
patient was not dead, as she had seen him move. On my 
return to his bed-side, I found him as I had left him, with- 
out pulsation or respiration. In two or three minutes, how- 
ever, I was almost as astonished as the nurse had been, at 
* “Though the passage of the blood through the lungs has been free, its 
natural change is interrupted by cholera.”—Dr. James Johnson on The 
Influence of Tropical Climates on European Constitutions. ; 
H 
