I882.J 
217 
On the Poison of Serpents. 
into each wound made by the teeth of the reptile, and the 
tissues are then compressed to favour the diffusion of the 
liquid. If the limb is already swollen several injections 
should be made about the boundaries of the swelling. If 
the rapidity of the symptoms seems to indicate that the 
venom has been introduced direCtly into a vein, an injection 
should be made into a superficial vein. 
“ I may be permitted here to add a brief reflection : from 
researches anterior to those of Dr. de Lacerda it results 
that the venom of serpents owes its toxic properties not to 
the liquid itself which is secreted in the glands, but to cor- 
puscules more or less analogous to those discovered daily in 
virus. Is there here a hint to be taken ? Would potassium 
permanganate, so powerful against the venom of the Both - 
rops, do similar service if employed against some of the 
diseases the cause of which has been discovered by M. 
Pasteur ?” 
This memoir suggests a few remarks. We note, in the 
first place, that the learned Academician accepts already as 
a demonstrated faCt the efficacy of potassium permanganate 
for the bites of serpents. Now, unless our memory greatly 
deceives us, it has been tried repeatedly, and in vain, for the 
bite of the cobra in India. We are, however, quite willing 
to admit that the poison of the cobra and that of the Both - 
rops may differ quantitatively, and even qualitatively, that of 
the former being beyond doubt the more malignant. 
Still it appears somewhat rash to pronounce Dr. de 
Lacerda’s method of cure successful just when its value has 
been referred to a SeleCt Committee of the Academy for 
close examination. Pending the conclusion of such inquiry 
suspension of judgment would, we submit, be the proper 
course. 
As regards the number of vipers in France, we fear that 
there has been an increase during the last twenty years. 
This has been especially the case in the Gironde, where 
their only efficient enemy, the hedgehog, has been much 
persecuted by gamekeepers. As regards the danger of the 
bite to man, we believe that it is much under-rated in 
zoological text-books. From evidence which has reached 
us, and from our own observations, we should think that 
about one case in five proves fatal, the danger increasing 
with the heat of the climate and of the season, and with the 
fatigue or the constitutional weakness of the subject. Many 
of our readers will recoiled! that a few years ago a young 
man died from the bite of a viper received on Leith Hill, 
Q 
VOL, iv. (third series). 
