EXPERIMENTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF SNAKE-POISON 
99 
FOURTEENTH SERIES. 
Experiments on the Influence of the Poisons of the Cobra , the Daboia, 
the Bungarusfasciatus and Ophiophagus, and on the use of the 
Ligature and of Carbolic Acid in the Treatment of Snake¬ 
bites. 
July \m, 1869. 
Present, Dr. Fayrer and Mr. Sceva. 
Experiment No. 1. 
A large and powerful Pariali Dog was bitten in tlie tliigli 
by a Daboia russellii at 3.22 r.M.; tbe Dog showed signs of 
pain when the fangs penetrated. 3.25.—Walks, but drags the 
bitten limb. 3.28.—Is lying down ; on rousing the Dog he 
is unable to stand ; defecation and micturition occurred; shows 
no signs of suffering beyond occasionally a suppressed whine ; 
tries to stand, but is unable to do so; contents of bladder 
dribbling away. 3.32.—Respiration hurried; pupils dilated; 
rolls his head uneasily, but keeps the neck turned more to one 
side ; twitching of eyeballs ; stretching out the fore-legs in a 
convulsive manner. Lies otherwise quite paralysed. 3.35.— 
Breathing regularly, but lies motionless. 3.38.—In the same 
condition ; respirations forty in a minute; slightly raises his 
head at intervals. 3.45.—Still breathing, but lies perfectly still, 
giving occasionally a low suppressed whine. 3.53.—In the 
same condition ; has watery purging. 4 P.M.—In the same con¬ 
dition ; respirations forty-five in a minute. 4.7.—Can just raise 
its head when roused, the limbs seem quite paralysed. 4.9.—- 
Muco-sanguineous purging: other symptoms the same. 4.18.— 
Still breathing; more muco-sanguineous purging. 4.20.—In 
the same condition. 4.40.-—In the same position; lying on 
his side; legs extended; breathing still. 4.45.—Slight 
twitching of the muscles generally; respiration irregular, and 
feeble. 4.50.—Dead: a slight tremor, but no convulsive 
movement preceded death. Bitten at 3.22 p.m ; dead at 4.50, 
or in eighty-eight minutes. The body was examined one hour 
and twenty minutes after death. The lungs were not con¬ 
gested. The liver was darker coloured than natural. The 
blood in the heart and great vessels was perfectly fluid, nor 
did it coagulate when collected and set apart. 
I examined the blood at noon on July 11th most carefully 
and deliberately under the microscope, with a high power. 
There was no change. The red and white corpuscles were in 
their natural relative quantities; a very few of the red ones 
were crenate. But there was not a trace of any new cell or 
molecular matter in the blood. 
The perfect and permanent fluidity in the blood was re¬ 
markably illustrated in this experiment. 
Experiment No. 2. 
A Pariah Dog was bitten at 3.28 p.m. in the thigh by a 
large Bungarus fasciatus, said to be quite fresh, and about four 
feet and a half long; the bites drew blood. Walking about; 
drags the leg slightly. 3.34.—Looks depressed and is sali¬ 
vated. 3.36.—Walks about; looking scared. 3.40.—Bitten 
again in the thigh by the same Bungarus; the Dog evinced 
no sign of suffering. 3.42.—Looks dejected ; foaming at the 
mouth; salivated. 4.7.—The Dog is sick and vomited a 
quantity of frothy mucus; vomiting repeated frequently. 
4.10.—In walking he looks depressed, as though excessively 
nauseated, and limps on the bitten leg. 4.12.—Vomiting 
continues ; lies down for the first time; breathing hurried. 
4.17.—The nausea and vomiting continue; looks scared and 
depressed. 4.20.—Excessive vomiting of frothy mucus. Lies 
down ; is convulsed in the hind-legs ; looks very ill. 4.29._ 
Hurried catching respiration; twitching of the hind-legs. 
4.32.—Walking slowly and feebly with a dejected look; 
vomits frequently, and froths profusely from the mouth. 
4.33. Stands with his head drooping; still very sick; leans 
his body foi suppoit against the wall. 4.45.—No change, 
o p.m. Appeals better. 5.15. — Looks better; no vomiting; 
respiration more natural. 5.40. — Lying down; when raised 
on his feet, appeal's weak, but otherwise better. On lying 
down, arranged his legs in a natural position as if for sleeping. 
6.10. — On being again roused, he walked about; his legs 
appeared feeble at first, but he seemed to recover the use of 
them. 9.15.—Sleeping comfortably; on being roused, looks 
brighter and intelligent. 
July 11th, 6 a.m. —Remained during the night without 
changing his position; on being placed on his feet appears 
weak, particularly in the hind-legs; he appears somewhat 
numbed in the legs. 
I received the following report on July 13th :—- 
“ The Dog died at about 10.30 p.m. of the 12th. Bitten 
at 3.28 p.m. of July 10th ; dead at 10.30 p.m. of the 12th, or in 
about fifty-five hours. Yesterday morning (the 12th) I 
observed that he was very weak. During the day, and up to 
the time of his death, he remained lying on one side with 
the legs extended, passing at intervals muco-sanguineous matter. 
On opening the body this morning I found the blood coagulated 
in the heart and great vessels.” The blood sent to me on the 
13tli was firmly coagulated. Under the microscope it pre¬ 
sented innumerable needle-like crystals of hsemato-globulin. 
The red corpuscles visible were very few in number, and were 
not, so far as I could judge, changed in any way. But I would 
speak with reserve about the corpuscles of this blood, as the 
field was so entirely filled with the crystals that little else 
could be seen even after careful dilution with water and agita¬ 
tion. It is possible that new cell forms may have been there, 
and escaped detection. The mass of the red corpuscles seems to 
have been converted into crystals. In both this and the pre¬ 
ceding case the blood was examined some time after death, but 
I failed to detect any new cell growths. 
Experiment No. 3. 
A young Cobra, about ten inches long, was bitten at 3.45 p.m. 
by a fresh full-grown Cobra (“ Keautiah”) near the tail, so that 
the viscera might not be injured. The fangs were seen to 
penetrate, and no doubt could exist that the poison was fairly 
inserted. Being put on the ground, it crawled away vigorously; 
seemed unaffected by the bite. 5 p.m— No change. 
July 11th, 6 a.m. —No change; it is quite well and active. 
On July 13th I saw it quite well. 
On the 17th it was found dead; apparently it had been dead 
about twelve hours. 
Experiment No. 4. 
Another young Cobra of the same brood as the last (No. 3) 
was bitten by a fresh Daboia near the tail like the last. The 
fangs penetrated, and the poison was freely inserted. 5.10._ 
No change. 6.15.—No change, except that when moving 
about, the end of the tail beyond the part bitten appears stiff, 
and does not move so freely as the rest of the body. This is 
accounted for by the nature of the wound inflicted by the 
formidable fangs of the Yiper. 
July 11th.—No change. 
July 13th.—The snake is alive and apparently well. 
On the 17th it was found dead and decomposed; it had pro¬ 
bably been dead three or four days. These two young Cobras 
were of one brood; they were caught a few days ago, and are 
said by the snake-man to be about a fortnight or ten days old. 
There could be no doubt about their having been fairly bitten 
by the Cobra and the Daboia on the 10th; no evil result 
followed up to the 13th, though they died subsequently. Surely 
this is strong proof that the Cobra is but little, if at all, sus¬ 
ceptible to the poison of its own species. These snakes being 
so young, may have died from want of food, and partly from the 
