130 TlMEHRI. 
2. Take a double handful of conami leaves (Clibadium asperum) ; 
pound well into a pulp ; add a pinch of common salt, and two table- 
spoonfuls of sugar (molasses sugar is the best) ; apply as a poultice, 
and renew every two or three hours, till relief be obtained. 
The latest information on the subject is to be found 
under the heading " Snakes " in the Encyclopaedia 
Britannica, vol. xxii, which has only just been published; 
and the following rather lengthy quotations are deserving 
of mention not only from their interest, but also from 
the fa6l that they embody the latest and the best inform- 
ation from an undoubtedly trustworthy source : — 
Chemistry has not yet succeeded in separating the active principle 
of snake-poison or in distinguishing between the secretions of different 
kinds of poisonous snakes; in fa6l it seems to be identical in all, and 
probably not different from the poison of scorpions and many 
Hymenoptera. The physiological effe6ls of all these poisons on warm- 
blooded Vertebrates are identical, and vary only in degree, the smallest 
quantities of the poison producing a local irritation, whilst in serious 
cases the whole mass of the blood is poisoned in the course of some 
seconds or minutes, producing paralysis of the nerve-centres. That 
there is some difference, however, in the action of the poisons upon 
the blood has been shown by Fayrer, who found that the poison 
of Viperine snakes invariably destroys its coagulability, whilst 
nothing of the kind is observed in animals which perished from 
the bite of a colubrine venomous snake. The same observer has 
also experimentally demonstrated that the blood of a poisoned warm- 
blooded animal assumes poisonous properties, and, when injected, 
kills like the poison itself, although the bodies of the animals may be 
eaten by man with impunity. On the other hand, he has proved that 
the opinion generally adopted since Redi's time, that snake-poison is 
efficacious only through direct injection into the blood, is fallacious, 
and that it is readily absorbed through mucous and serous membranes, 
producing the same effects, though in a milder degree. 
The degree of danger arising from a snake-bite to man depends in 
the first place on the quantity of poison injected : a large vigorous 
snake which has not bitten for some time is more to be feared than one 
of small size or one which is weakly or has exhausted its stock of 
