DR. EVAN’S ON THE POISONED SPINES OF THE WE EVER FISH. 359 
to respiratory failure. I was not able to say precisely whether 
this was due to a direct paralysis of the respiratory muscles, 
or to an effect on the respiratory centre. But I am inclined 
to think that it was due to a direct action on the respiratory 
muscles as much from the rapidity of the death as from the 
fact that when death did not result in a relatively short time 
(8 to 10 minutes) it did not occur later. 
The local effects of the poison injected subcutaneously 
have been described by Bottard and Gressin. It produces 
mortification of the tissues. It appears to produce a local 
paralysis which is very evident in experiments on fish. If 
one injects the poison in the region of the lateral line, the fish 
is sharply bent away from the lesion on account of the pre- 
dominant action of the lateral muscles of the opposite side. 
These experiments have been repeated in the laboratory of 
University College by Dr. Stevenson. 
A Gold Fish, .d., 4 in. in length, died in one hour and a half 
after injecting .015 grm. dried venom. 
Another, /?.. in four hours with the same dose. Seven 
minutes after injection it lay on its left side, curved away 
from the site of inoculation which had been made into the 
muscles of the right lateral line. 
Another, C., injected with .01 grm. showed the next day 
some local swelling at site of injection and continued to live 
until ten days after commencement of experiment. The 
postmortem showed extravasated areas of blood at site of 
inoculation and great congestion of peritoneum. 
Another. /)., with .01 grm, died three days after injection, 
and showed a marked hemorrhagic area along track of needle. 
Gold fish, E., injected with .005 grm. died eight days after 
inoculation. There was a soft puffy area with swelling where 
the injection took place. On incision into this there was 
a small cavity in the muscles with ill-defined breaking down 
walls. It seemed as if there was a pure necrosis of muscle. 
The surrounding area showed bloody engorgement well seen 
on the peritoneal aspect. 
Frog, .015 grm. caused death in 2 1 hours, with paralytic 
symptoms. 
