EXPERIMENTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF SNAKE-POISON. 
07 
expression of suffering. 9.14.—Is apparently sluggish; lies 
down; and when made to rise staggers; breathing slightly 
hurried; whines, and bites the puncture. 9.20.—Lying down, 
apparently asleep. 9.21.—Up, and staggering about again. 
9.28.—Appears drowsy, sitting down, drooping the head. 9.34. 
—Sluggish when roused to walk about. 9.48.—Very sleepy; 
pupils dilated; cannot be roused until put on the table, and 
exposed to a fresh breeze, when he gets up and walks a 
little. 
9.52. Again placed in the breeze; roused himself and 
walked about, dragging the bitten leg; drank a little water, 
and smelt at some things on the table ; licked the wound. 
10.12. Much the same; drags the left leg and thigh, with 
the knee-joint extended; walks a few steps, and lies down 
again, less sluggish than before. 10.38.—Much better; runs 
about, still slightly dragging the leg, and howling. 2 p.m. — 
He is quite well again. 
In this case a very small quantity of the poison, which had 
been taken from the snake eight days before, was inoculated. 
The effects produced, though of a marked character, were slight, 
and passed away. The Dog recovered perfectly in about five 
hours. 
Experiment No. 7. 
A half-grown Domestic Fowl, inoculated at 2 p.m. with the 
same poison, but in larger quantities, died in rather more than an 
hour, with precisely similar symptoms to those described in Ex¬ 
periment No. 2. The post-mortem examination revealed the same 
appearances. In this case, not having the opportunity of ex¬ 
amining the blood with the higher power („y), it was examined 
with a lower power (-Jj, but there was nothing in its appearance 
to confirm the results of the examination of blood in Experi¬ 
ment No. 2. The light was had, and the examination was not 
satisfactory. 
Experiment No. 8. 
A young Pigeon was inoculated, at 2.3 p.m., with a consider¬ 
able quantity of the same Cobra poison in the inner side of the 
thigh. 2.5.—Agitated; walking about; making a slight 
chirping noise. 2.7.—Breathing much hurried. 2.9.—Eyes 
closed; breathing hurried; sluggish. 2.18.—-Becoming con¬ 
vulsed, struggling to rise, and falling over on the right side, 
which seems paralysed. 2.19. — Respiration much slower; 
spasms of both legs ; lies prone, with neck stretched out and 
head supported on point of hill. 2.26.—Dead (in 23 minutes). 
Autopsy (immediately after death).—Blood firmly coagulable. 
Lungs not congested. Heart empty; partially contracted; 
not irritable; not showing any contractility when cut open. 
Liver not congested. No alteration in the blood could be 
detected by the microscope. 
Experiment No. 9. 
The Pup which was the subject of Experiment No. 6 was 
inoculated at 9.2 a.m. with a larger quantity of the same 
poison on the corresponding part of the opposite thigh. He 
had perfectly recovered from the first inoculation, and the punc¬ 
ture looked quite healthy. The poison in this case was inserted 
with a pen into a puncture made through the skin with a 
bistoury. The animal became restless almost immediately, and 
drew the leg up at first, but soon put the foot on the ground 
again. 9.5.—Drags and tries to extend and stretch the 
affected limb. 9.8—Staggers in the hind quarters and loins on 
the affected side; is evidently very uneasy, but evinces no 
signs of pain. 9.10.—Makes efforts to vomit, but without 
result. Gets up and walks sluggishly, dragging the leo-s. 9.10. 
—Appears rather better. 9.25.—Lying down; but when put 
on his feet walks, dragging the inoculated leg. 11 a.m. _Sleeping 
since last report; is drowsy; but when awakened eats some meat 
eagerly. Noon.— About half a drachm of blood has flowed from 
the puncture: walks, hut is drowsy; shows a tendency to sit 
on the left hip; both hind legs, but especially the left, seem to 
give way as he does so. Respiration attended with a hoarse 
grumbling sound. 12.30.—Whining; progressing with the 
forelegs, with the belly on the ground, trailing the paralysed 
hind quarters after him. Vomited a little dark-coloured fluid. 
Is evidently much distressed; and when placed on his leo-s 
drops on his belly. Moves the hind legs when they are 
pinched. Respiration laboured. Pupils sensitive to light. 
12.55.—Falls over on the left side and gasps for breath. Ten 
minims of sulphuric ether in two drachms of water were given. 
The animal expressed uneasiness; whined and rubbed his 
mouth on the ground. Respirations 24 per minute. No 
coma; pupils somewhat dilated; yawns and seems less uneasy, 
but occasionally whines a little. 1.15. p.m. —Much the same ; 
some viscid saliva flowing from the mouth. 120. — Pupils 
dilated and insensible to light. Lies on his belly, head resting 
on the ground ; salivation profuse. The limbs have now lost 
all power of supporting the body, and the neck of supporting 
the head. 1.33.—Another* dose of ether given. The Dog is 
now lying on the left side; he struggled a little after getting 
the ether, but soon became quite quiet. Respirations now 18 
per minute and abdominal. 1.40.—Struggles slightly with 
hind and forelegs and whines. 1.45. p.m.— Pulse 175; respi¬ 
rations 23 ; respiration accompanied by short whining grunts ; 
struggles occasionally, and opens mouth widely. 2 p.m._. 
Another dose of ether and a cold douche given, but without 
any effect. Slight power of using the muscles of the body 
remains, but all co-ordinating power is gone. 2.30.—Lying 
on left side as though asleep; occasional twitching of head. 
Pulse 26. 2.36.—Convulsions of jaws and forelegs, with 
failing respiration. 2.50.—Perfectly motionless, and, but for 
the slow respiration, apparently dead. 3 p.m.— Died in about 
six hours after inoculation. 
Body opened immediately; blood from the large vessels 
coagulated firmly within a few minutes. Lungs perfectly free 
from congestion; rather blanched. Liver and abdominal 
viscera healthy; intestines contracting peristaltically. Heart 
contracting slowly. No coagula in its cavities. 
The blood was examined shortly after death with Professor 
Macnamara s and -jV of an inch object-glasses. The red 
corpuscles were shrivelled and crenate, but after being soaked 
for some little time in a slightly ammoniacal solution of 
carmine, they assumed their normal form and appearance. No 
indications existed of new cell formations containing germinal 
matter, although they were most carefully sought for. The 
only cells which we could find were the healthy red and white 
corpuscles. 
In this case, where death occurred in six hours, and where 
sufficient time had been given for blood changes, I think that 
if the changes described by Professor Halford always take 
place, they ought to have been detected. 
SECOND SERIES. 
Experiments on the Action of the Poison of the Cobra on 
Cold-blooded Animals. 
March 107//, 1868. 
Experiment No. 1. 
A full-grown Ply as mucosus, or Rat Snake (" Dhamin”), was 
bitten at 12.2/ p.m. by a fresh Cobra about two-thirds grown, 
and of a light brown colour. The Cobra was made to close his 
jaws in three different places at about two feet from the head of 
the Ptyas. The bitten snake was then placed in a large box, 
with a wire front. 12.33.— Ptyas moving about actively in the 
box and darting out his tongue frequently. 12.40.—Seems 
