326 
H. C. YARROW. 
conditions of the experiments led you, however, to deny the effi¬ 
cacy of this chemical agent in the cases in which the venom had 
been inoculated in the tissues. As you know, however, I have 
demonstrated by numerous experiments and innumerable clinical 
facts that the neutralization takes place even in the midst of the 
tissues, which makes this substance a chemical antidote of great 
value. The permanganate of potash acts upon the venom, de¬ 
stroying it in two ways: first as a powerful oxidizing agent, 
second by the potash that forms the base of the salt, passing a 
current of nascent oxygen through a concentrated solution, of the 
venom, which loses entirely its noxious properties. This experi¬ 
ment, which I have repeated many times, gave me always the 
same result. Let us suppose now, that an individual is bitten. 
If injections are made in the place of the bite from five to ten 
minutes after the inoculation of the venom, this is promptly neu¬ 
tralized in situ and the individual runs no further danger. A 
great number of facts have been observed like this in Brazil. If 
aid is given late, hours after the bite, when the tumefaction of 
the wounded part is very pronounced and the phenomena that in¬ 
dicate the entrance of the venom into the circulation have already 
declared themselves, injections repeated in various parts of the 
wounded members parting from the wounds made by the fangs 
of the reptiles still give very good results. Nor is it difficult to 
explain the good results in this case. The venom, as I have said, 
acts first locally and only enters the general circulation after the 
lapse of a certain time, and by portions. The permanganate of 
potash meeting in the tissues with the venom, which is little by 
little diffusing itself, neutralizes it in the various points when it 
has been diffused and thus stops the source of supply. The en¬ 
trance of new and successive portions of the venom into the gen¬ 
eral circulation being thus impeded, the organism takes charge 
of the elimination of what has already been introduced and 
which was insufficient to compromise the life of the individual.” 
It is only fair to add that the poison of the JBothrops is 
much less venomous apparently than that of the cobra and Cro- 
talus , and this may account for the good results obtained by Dr. 
de Lacerda, but we should not forget also that Mitchell makes 
the statement that ^t least seven-eighths of patients (bitten by the 
