28 Prof. Pedler on Cobra Poison. [Jan. 17, 



summarized in Table F, and the method used was the same as before 

 described. 



Table F. — Injection of Platinum Tetrachloride into Poisoned Dogs. 



Mb. 

 of 

 Eexpt. 



Wt.of 

 Dog- 

 in lbs. 



Amount of Cobra 

 Poison used. 



Interval 

 before use of 

 PtCl 4 . 



Amount 

 of PtCLj 

 injected. 



Dila- 

 tion. 



Result. 













hr. min. 





1 



31 



k grain = "0324 gram 



1 to 2 min 



'05 gram 



2 45 



Death 



2 



15 



i grain = - 0162 gram 



1 minute 



•05 „ 



1 48 





3 



40 



£ grain 



1 minute 



•io „ 



5 20 





4 



42 



£ gram 



3 minutes 



•15 „ 



4 20 













internally 







The platinnm salt does not in these instances appear to have been as 

 efficacious as in the experiments on chickens, and as previously men- 

 tioned I believe that the want of success was owing to the rapidity 

 with which the poison is absorbed and diffused through the system, 

 preventing any chance of the platinum salt coming in contact with the 

 virus. This must prove a serious obstacle to the efficacy of any 

 remedy. I confess that from my own experience of the rapidity of 

 the absorption of this poison, I have considerable doubt as to the 

 possibility of an antidote to snake poison ever being discovered, for in 

 a few seconds after the actual bite of a snake the poison is absorbed 

 by the blood, and carried by it to all parts of the system, and thus the 

 task of overcoming or neutralizing the virus is rendered extremely 

 difficult if not practically impossible. 



In making the experiments described in the last two tables, I have 

 been seriously hampered with the want of knowledge as to the physio- 

 logical action of platinum salts in general, and of the platinum tetra- 

 chloride in particular ; and although I have searched through every 

 available authority, I have been unable to find any results bearing 

 however slightly on this subject. To work out the problem before us, 

 we must begin with selecting suitable living subjects for experiment. 

 TTe must then ascertain what is the physiological action upon these 

 animals of the platinum salt and of the cobra poison separately, both 

 when administered internally and when injected hypodermically. 

 Having settled these preliminary questions, we must proceed to test 

 the applicability of the platinum salt as an antidote to the cobra virus 

 by injecting hypodermically into similar subjects the smallest dose, 

 which our preliminary experiments have shown to be fatal, and sub- 

 sequently administering the platinum salt in various ways. 



As my own physiological knowledge and surgical skill are very 

 slight, I have asked Dr. E. Lawrie to join in the investigation above 

 sketched out, and we have already commenced our experiments, the 



