1896-97.] Prof. Fraser on Properties of Bile of Serpents. 459 
of a c.c. of water, and then injecting the mixture under the skin of 
the animal. 
When this was done with the bile of the same serpent, the 
African cobra, death occurred when the dose of bile was *00008 
grm. p. kilo, or less, hut recovery when the quantity was ’0001, 
*00015, *0002, or *0005. With rattlesnake bile, death occurred 
when the quantity of bile was *00025 grm. p. kilo, or any smaller 
quantity, hut recovery when it was *0003, *00035, *0004, or *0005 
grm. p. kilo. With puff-adder bile, death occurred when the dose 
was *0005 or *00075 grm. p. kilo., hut recovery when it was *001, 
*002, *0025, or *003 grm. p. kilo. 
To render the evidence still more obvious, experiments were also 
made with a larger dose of African cobra venom, viz., *00026 grm. 
p. kilo., — a dose which is fatal to a rabbit in less than eight hours. 
When mixed with the bile of the same serpent, *0025, *00225, *002, 
and *00175 grm. p. kilo, was each sufficient to prevent death, which, 
however, followed when the quantity was *0015 grm. p. kilo, or a 
smaller quantity. When mixed with the bile of the puff-adder, 
*003 or *0025 grm. p. kilo, was sufficient to render this dose of 
venom nondethal, hut *002 and *001 grm. p. kilo, were insufficient. 
Similar experiments were made with the venom of the Indian 
cobra, but while the dose taken as the minimum-lethal was the 
same as in the first series of experiments with the venom of the 
African cobra — viz., *0025 grm. p. kilo. — this dose really repre- 
sented a larger excess over the minimum-lethal. The results were 
that rattlesnake bile in a dose of *00025 grm. p. kilo, was insuffi- 
cient to render this dose of Indian cobra venom non-lethal, but 
was sufficient in a dose of *0005, *0004, *00035, or *0003 grm. p. 
kilo.; that African cobra bile was insufficient in doses of *00075, 
*0005, *0004, *0003, and *00025 grm., but sufficient in doses of 
*002 and *001 grm. p. kilo. ; and that puff-adder bile was insuffi- 
cient in doses of *001, *002, *0025, and *00275, but sufficient in 
doses of *00325 and *003 grm. p. kilo. 
It was thus shown that the bile of venomous serpents is able, 
when mixed with the venom of serpents, to prevent lethal doses of 
the latter from producing death; and that the bile is indeed so 
powerful an agent in doing this that a quantity actually smaller 
than the quantity of venom may he sufficient for the purpose. It 
