1881.] 



Poisons of certain Indian Venomous Snakes, 



351 



diversity in the symptoms between different cases of daboia poisoning. 

 The animal may fall down at once in convnlsions and expire as in 

 Experiment X, or it may never have any nerve symptoms at all, but 

 die many hours after from a remote affection as in Experiment IX. 



The following experiments throw light on the causes of these 

 differences. 



Experiment XL 



A pariah pup had about 0*1 cub. centim. of fresh daboia poison 

 injected subcutaneously into the shoulder. 

 12.52 p.m. Injection. 

 1 p.m. Vomiting. 



1.4 p.m. Can stand but cannot walk. 



1.8 p.m. Cannot stand ; moaning. 



1.11 p.m. Slight sanious discharge from the rectum. 



1.15 p.m. Short rapid respiration with an occasional deep inspira- 

 tion. 



1.30 p.m. Respiration very slight. 

 2.6 p.m. Dead. 



Experiment XII. 



A pariah pup of the same litter as the one in the last experiment, 

 and as nearly as possible of the same size, had 0*3 cub. centim. of fresh 

 daboia poison injected into its shoulder subcutaneously. 



1.31 P.M. Injection. 



1.35 p.m. Fell over in convulsions. 

 1.37 p.m. Unable to stand. 



1.45 p.m. Lying down, is quite paralysed, but occasionally groans. 

 2.1 p.m. Totally unconscious. 



2.16 p.m. Respiration failing. 

 2.29 p.m. Dead. 



In these two dogs, which were of the same age and size, the daboia 

 poison was injected into exactly the corresponding part of each, and 

 subcutaneously ; but, in the latter experiment, three times as much 

 poison was injected as in the former case. This was the only differ- 

 ence in the two experiments, and the result was that the animal which 

 had the larger quantity of poison suffered in four minutes from violent 

 convulsions, and from that time was quite paralysed ; whilst the other 

 only gradually became paralysed, and had no sign of convulsions at 

 all. The poison in both cases was from the same viper, and extracted 

 at the same time. In the same way it can be proved that an equal 

 quantity of poison injected into two animals of different sizes will kill 

 the small one almost instantly in convulsions, but will only cause 

 death after a long interval, and without violent symptoms, in the 

 larger one. Daboia poison, therefore, commences its constitutional 



