1878.] 



Mr. W. Crookes on Repulsion. 



29 



results of which we hope to submit to the Society in a subsequent 

 communication. 



I do not, of course, lay any claim to have discovered an antidote (in 

 the true sense of the word) to cobra poison, but I think that the experi- 

 ments above described prove the inertness of the platinum compound 

 of cobra virus, and that this may be deemed a sufficient ground for 

 making more extensive researches on this subject. ISTor do I at present 

 venture to make any practical suggestions in connexion with the above 

 facts as to the treatment of cases of snake bite, for until we are 

 acquainted with the physiological action of platinum compounds this 

 would be premature. The responsibility of recommending any change 

 in the recognized methods of treatment would be very great, and it 

 would be worse than rashness to deal with a subject of such vital 

 importance without having a thorough knowledge of the effects likely 

 to be produced by our actions. 



Before concluding my paper I must tender my thanks to Mr. R. H. 

 Wilson, C.S., officiating magistrate of the 24 Pergunnas, for kindly 

 assisting me in procuring live cobras for the extraction of the poison, 

 and to my assistant, Balm Poolin Behary Saor, for much aid rendered 

 during the progress of a work not always pleasant to the feelings, and 

 always more or less dangerous in its nature. 



II. " On Repulsion resulting from Radiation. Part V." By 

 William Crookes, F.R.S., Y.P.C.S. Received December 3, 

 1877. 



(Abstract.) 



This paper commences with an experimental investigation of the 

 amount of repulsion produced by radiation on disks of various kinds, 

 and coated with different substances. The torsion apparatus for this 

 purpose consists of a straw beam, suspended by a fine glass torsion 

 fibre. At one end of the beam is a rod hanging downwards, and 

 capable of taking six experimental disks in a vertical row. The other 

 end of the beam is furnished with a pan and adjustible weights, to 

 balance the varying weights of the disks submitted to radiation. A 

 standard candle, at a fixed distance from the disks, supplies the radia- 

 tion, and the amount of movement under its influence is measured by a 

 ray of light reflected from a mirror on the beam to a graduated scale. 

 An appropriate arrangement of screens enables any selected disk to be 

 experimented on without the others being affected, and a standard 

 lampblacked disk being always present, the results are capable of 

 intercomparison. The beam, torsion fibre, disks &c, are sealed up in 

 glass, and the whole apparatus is attached to a mercury pump, capable 

 of carrying the exhaustion to any desired point. 



