REPTILIA 



243 



In 1767 Abh6 Felix Fontana made a number of observations on animals 

 bitten by vipers, and in 1796 Russell published an account of his experiments 

 on Indian snakes. In 1821 Davy gave an account of the effects on animals 

 of the bites of three Ceylon snakes. 



In 1843 Prince Lucien Bonaparte published his important discovery that 

 the venom of the adder contained an active substance, which he called viperine, 

 or echidnine, capable of being precipitated by alcohol. 



In 1845 Brainard showed that if an animal dies at once after the bite of a 

 rattlesnake, the blood will be found to be clotted, but if it lives for some 

 time it will be fluid. 



In i860 Weir Mitchell laid the foundations of modern investigations into 

 snake- venom in his classical paper on the poison of Crotalus durissus. 



In 1867 Sir Joseph Fayrer began his work on Indian snakes, which resulted 

 in the publication of his magnificent atlas on the Thanatophidia of India 

 in 1872, and several papers by himself and Sir Lauder Brunton in 1873-75. 



About the same time Vincent Richards published some valuable remarks 

 on snake poisons and their antidotes. 



In 1883 Wall wrote a most excellent little book on the colu brine and 

 viperine snakes of India. 



In 1886 appeared a most masterly paper by Weir Mitchell and Reichert, in 

 which they state that the active principles are globulins and peptones 

 (proteoses) . These researches indicating a proteid nature for the venom were 

 confirmed by Wolf end en and Karlbach, and did away with Gautier and 

 Blyth's ideas as to their alkaloidal nature. 



In 1892 Martin alone and with Smith studied the venom of Australian 

 snakes [Hoplocephalus and Pseudechis), and concluded that the venom con- 

 tained three proteids — an albumin and t^vo proteoses (proto and hetero), 

 the latter, however, being alone virulent. 



In the meanwhile observers had not been backward in making attempts 

 to find the physiological antidote suggested by Weir Mitchell and Reichert, 

 for in 1887 Sewall showed that by repeated injections of the venom of Crotalus, 

 pigeons could be gradually rendered resistant against strong doses of that 

 poison; and a little later Reichert obtained the same result with regard to 

 the venom of the French viper. In 1892 Calmette published the first of his 

 celebrated series of investigations, showing that successive inoculations of 

 heated venom produced in animals a certain degree of resistance to quantities 

 of the poison otherwise surely fatal. Calmette worked largely with the 

 cobra, and produced in rabbits and guinea-pigs a true immunity. He further 

 concluded that animals vaccinated against the cobra also withstood with 

 impunity mortal doses of the venom of the viper and other snakes {Bungarus, 

 Cerastes, Naja haje, and Pseudechis). 



Phisalix and Bertrand also studied the question of obtaining an immunity 

 against the bite of the viper. Fraser of Edinburgh, in 1895, confirmed these 

 results of Calmette. Since then there has not been the slightest doubt that 

 Calmette's serum is of the greatest value in certain cases, especially against 

 cobra- venom. 



In 1 88 1 permanganate of potash was recommended as an antidote by 

 Professor de Lacerda, of Rio de Janeiro, and by Badaloni in Italy in 1882-84, 

 and lately this remedy has again been strongly recommended by Rogers, of 

 Calcutta, and there appears to be no doubt as to its efficiency ; but the question 

 of remedies will be dealt with in their proper place. 



It will thus be seen that at the close of this period there is a general belief 

 that the venom of all snakes has virtually the same active principles, which 

 are thought to be proteids, and that, though they may differ in amount, and 

 hence their effects be different, still, it is only a quantitative, and not a qualita- 

 tive, difference; and, further, that one antivenene is effectual against all 

 kinds of venom. 



3. Period 0! more than One Venom.— The third period, extending up to the 

 present, is that in which there is the conception that there are at least two 

 definitely separate types of venom, one of which may be called the colubrine 

 type, having as its example Naja tripudians ; and the other the viperine type. 



