86 Mr . Home’s Account of the Case of a Man, 
cellular membrane under it was found entirely destroyed : 
the muscles were detached from the ribs, and from a small 
portion of the scapula. The parts immediately surrounding 
the bite were exceedingly inflamed ; as far as I could trust to 
memory, the appearances very much resembled those pro- 
duced on the muscles of a dog’s thigh, by the application of 
white arsenic, in consequence of which, death ensued in about 
sixteen hours. 
Fifteen hours after the death of the first, a second rat was 
bitten by the same snake. This rat was much irritated, and 
bit the snake in the neck, so violently, that the latter died in 
about ten minutes. The rat continued very lively for about 
six hours, and then died. On examination after death, the 
bite was found to have been inflicted on the left side of the 
navel, and the abdominal muscles at that part, were in the 
same state as in the other rat, but in a less degree. 
It appears from the facts, which have been stated, that, the 
effects of the bite of a snake vary according to the intensity 
of the poison. 
When the poison is very active, the local irritation is so 
sudden and so violent, and its effects on the general system, 
are so great, that death soon takes place. When the body is 
afterwards inspected, the only alteration of structure met with, 
is in the parts close to t he bite, where the cellular membrane 
is completely destroyed, and the neighbouring muscles very 
considerably inflamed. 
When the poison is less intense, the shock to the general 
system does not prove fatal. It brings on a slight degree of 
delirium, and the pain in the part bitten is very severe : in 
about half an hour, swelling takes place from an effusion of 
