EXPERIMENTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF SNAKE-POISON. 
87 
“ The boon to humanity then, if the efficacy of the antidote 
he established, could hardly be over-estimated. 
“ Yours very truly, 
“ C. L. Showers. 
“ Gwalior, October 25th, 1868. 
Experiments performed in the presence of Colonel Showers and 
Dr. J. Macbeth. 
“ First day , 26 th August, 1868. 
“l.A full-grown Cock was given to the Kelaree,* who ad¬ 
ministered his antidote. The feathers having been plucked 
from one thigh and partially off the breast, the bird was freely 
bitten more than once in our presence by a lively Cobra, over 
four feet long. The Cock showed no symptoms of distress of 
any kind, and after an hour was let loose, and ran about 
apparently uninjured. Did not at any time subsequently 
exhibit any symptoms of distress. 
“ 2. A Rabbit would not have the antidote administered by 
the Kelaree, whose hand he bit severely in the attempt to do so. 
The Rabbit was then twice bitten by a Cobra, over four feet long, 
on each occasion giving vent to a painful cry. It was then let 
loose, the poison taking very rapid effect; the animal fell on one 
side, then sat up for a few seconds, after which it tumbled over; 
showed great distress,—hurry and irregularity in its efforts to 
breathe; heart’s action became rapid, feeble, and irregular; the 
pupils of both eyes were violently acted on by some foreign 
influence; ultimately became quite fixed; and in three minutes 
and a half from the time of being bitten, the Rabbit gave a 
convulsive shudder and was dead. 
“ 3. A fall-grown Pariah Slut, seemingly in perfect health, 
was handed over to the Kelaree, who administered his antidote 
on a piece of meat, which the Slut swallowed in our presence at 
8.39 a.m. She was then bitten on the inner side of the left 
thigh by a fresh Cobra, over four feet long, which closed its 
jaws upon the place, holding on for some seconds. Several 
other attempts were made to make the Cobra bite again, 
but it is not certain whether a second bite was given or not. 
The Slut was then tied up; meat was offered to her about an 
liour afterwards, at the instance of the Kelaree, which she 
refused. He subsequently gave this as a reason why he thought 
his antidote had not been quite powerful enough, but said 
confidently that the remaining effects of the poison would pass 
off in a few hours. The Slut showed no symptoms of distress 
nor lethargy for two hours, after which she lay down and 
appeared drowsy. The Kelaree then administered a second 
dose of his antidote, which in the course of an hour entirely 
dissipated all drowsiness and weakness. At 1 p.m. the Slut, 
having been for about an hour and a half lively and apparently 
well, was let loose, and ran away to the neighbouring village to 
which it belonged, f 
“ 4. Another Dog, full-grown, In good condition and apparent 
health, was bitten at 8.48.50 a.m. by a Cobra, over four feet 
long, the snake closing its jaws upon the place. Strong 
symptoms of uneasiness after three minutes, with very hurried 
and spasmodic breathing; pupil of eye violently acted on. In 
about fifteen minutes action of the heart much enfeebled, and 
very hurried. Pupil of eye still more evidently under a foreign 
influence ; very shortly after this the breathing became more 
hurried, and the animal very restless. Frothy saliva also began 
to flow freely; Kelaree asserted the Dog would go mad. Shortly 
afterwards, on putting anything within reach of his mouth, he 
snapped spasmodically and laid hold of a rope, but more con¬ 
* Snake man. 
f This Slut sickened towards evening; and, being at a distance from the Kelaree, 
and her state being unknown to him, no further antidote was administered. The 
following morning she was insensible; spasmodic cramps and convulsions, frequently 
recurring, supervened; tongue lolling out, and of a dark colour. Died at 3 p.m. on 
the 27th—thirty hours nineteen minutes after being bitten. 
vulsively than with any object. First effects seemed to be 
excitement and distress, followed by considerable lethargy, after 
which its muscular efforts appeared to be nervously spasmodic, 
excited by some foreign influence, and evidently not voluntary. 
The hinder extremities first appeared to lose power; action of 
the heart hurried, weak, and intermittent; about this period 
the pupil of the eye became fixed, lower jaw jiowerless, tongue 
lolling out, and of a bluish-black colour; and breathing dis¬ 
tressed, hurried, and spasmodic, with only partial expansion of 
the chest. Died easily, after one or two slight spasmodic 
gasps, at 9.29—that is, in forty minutes and ten seconds after 
being bitten. Just before death it showed a dislike to the 
presence of water. 
Second day, 1th September, 1868. 
“1. Pariah Dog, without antidote, bitten at 7.39 a.m. 
Bitten twice on right leg and inner part of left thigh : on both 
occasions he gave tongue as if in pain. In about ten minutes 
afterwards the same appearance in pupils of eyes as in the 
previous experiments. In about a quarter of an hour strong 
convulsions, with involuntary evacuations of the bowels, and 
subsequently at intervals; made violent attempts to bite every¬ 
thing within reach, including his own legs and tail. This the 
Kelaree described as a symptom of hydrophobia, or his idea of 
dog madness ; shortly all struggles ceased, the power of motion 
seeming first to leave the posterior limbs. A good deal of viscid 
saliva flowed from the mouth, and, as before, the tongue was 
observed lolling out, livid in appearance. The circulation in 
this case became more gradually affected than in the previous 
experiments; the heart’s action continued for six minutes, 
gradually becoming feeble, after all pulsation in the arteries had 
ceased. Died at 8.15 a.m. 
“ 2. Second Dog, without antidote, bitten at 7.54.58 ; died at 
8.23.30—that is, in twenty-eight minutes thirty-two seconds 
•—exhibiting more or less the symptoms recorded in the fore¬ 
going case. 
“3. Third Dog, with antidote previously administered, bitten 
at 8.13 a.m. Remained quite unaffected, and, being kept tied 
up for three days, did not exhibit at any time anything wrong. 
“ 4. Fourth Dog, with antidote, bitten at 8.39 a.m. Remained 
quite unaffected, as in the former case. 
“ 5- Previous to this experiment, the Kelaree asked whether 
the fresh snake should bite a prepared or an unprepared animal. 
We selected the former in this instance, having already seen 
two dogs die, Nos. 1 and 2. 
“ A prepared full-grown Pariah was then bitten, the first time 
at 8.57 a.m., and a second time at 8.57.30. Both times the jaws 
were firmly closed on the limb. Tbe Kelaree says that it was 
bitten a third time before the snake was disengaged from the 
Dog, but we saw only the two bites above recorded. The Dog- 
remained perfectly unaffected after two hours, when the Kelaree 
was told to take all three Dogs away to his house, report their 
state in the evening, and if alive, to bring them up to the 
Residency for inspection the next morning. 
“ The Kelaree reported in the evening that the Dog last bitten 
—twice as we saw, but three times as he affirms—had vomited 
at 3 p.m., and exhibited other symptoms of distress ; and that 
he had in consequence administered to this Do^ more of his 
antidote, and that it was doing well. 
“ The following morning, that is, in twenty-four hours after 
being bitten, the Dog exhibited great weakness and distress, and 
decided symptoms of being under the influence of poison. We 
thought it would not recover, but the Kelaree appeared confident 
it would. Antidote was again administered; the Dog grew 
better and stronger towards the evening, and the following 
morning—that is, in forty-eight hours after being bitten—had 
quite recovered. It was kept tied up a third day, when all 
three Dogs, in perfect state of health, were let loose. 
