124 
THE THANATOPHIDTA OF INDIA . 
fangs thoroughly. The Dog howled as though in pain. As 
the snake closed his jaw, and before one fang penetrated, a small 
drop of clear fluid, the poison, was seen on the part. 
12.22.—The Dog is restless and drags the bitten leg. 12.26. 
The hind-quarters seem very weak, he walks with difficulty. 
12.84.—Lying down, rises but with difficulty, and drags the 
hind limbs. 12.42.—Lying down; breathing hurried. The 
muscles generally in a state of tremor. 12.59. The Dog can 
stand, but when he moves he drags the hind-legs. 1.6. 
Standing in a dejected attitude, head resting against a box. 
1.1 S.—lie seems rather better. Tries to walk about, but drags 
the legs. lief uses water when offered. 1.30.—Some blood 
drawn from a vein in the thigh; it became a bright red fluid 
immediately, and slowly formed into a poor and rather im¬ 
perfect clot. 1.45.—Very sluggish, but better than he was; 
limb swollen and discoloured about the bite. 2.2.—Lying 
down, apparently asleep. 2.5.—The breathing is still hurried, 
and he is very sluggish, but takes notice when spoken to. 
There is no salivation or frothing at the mouth. 
I saw him again at 5.45 p.m. He was lying down, quite 
conscious, but very much indisposed to move; the bitten limb 
swollen; this was partly due to the puncture whence the blood 
was abstracted, and the hind-legs very weak. 
The Dog died at 10 p.m., in nine hours and a half. The 
blood remained fluid after death. There was no coagulation. 
It is worthy of note that blood taken from the Dog whilst 
living, one hour after being bitten, and when well under the 
influence of the poison, formed a rather imperfect clot. 
The rigor mortis was complete when I saw the Dog at 8 a.m. 
of the 9tli. The bitten limb was swollen and infiltrated with 
black blood. This was partly due to the puncture made to 
withdraw blood before death. 
Experiment No. 8. 
A Fowl was bitten in the thigh by the same Echis carinata 
at 12.24. 12.25.—Restless and uneasy. 12.26.—Falls over, 
wings outspread. 12.27.—Convulsed. 12.27.30. Violently 
convulsed. 12.28.—Dead—in four minutes. 
Just before death the Fowl vomited a quantity oi fluid. 
The blood was removed from the body five minutes after 
death: it was thin and red, became bright red when exposed to 
the air, but did not coagulate. It remained perfectly fluid, 
never coagulated. 
In this it resembles the blood of animals poisoned by Daboia, 
which behaved in the same manner. It would seem that the 
poison of these two vipers so affects the blood that it will not 
coagulate after death. 
The bitten limb was intensely swelled and discoloured with 
black ecchymosis. 
Experiment No. 9. 
Another Fowl bitten by the same Echis in the thigh at 
1.38 p.m. One fang has been broken in the last experiments, 
and the other it would not insert, at least the bite was doubtful. 
No effect produced by 2 p.m. So it was again tried, and this 
time it bit, but reluctantly; it is evidently exhausted. 
The Fowl was very slightly affected, being rather sluggish at 
2.15. I saw it again at 5.45 p.m., and it had just died, in four 
hours and seven minutes. Bitten at 1.38.—Died at 5.4o. 
The snake had evidently been nearly exhausted when it bit 
this Fowl. 
The blood was removed from the body, and it was exactly 
like that in Experiment No. 8. It remained fluid. The first 
Fowl died in four minutes. Gunther says of the Echis carinata: 
“ No case is known of its bite having proved fatal.” I think 
its powers are under-estimated. A snake that can kill a Fowl 
in four minutes, and a Dog in ten hours, must be very 
dangerous, and its bite might well prove fatal to weak or young 
persons. This Fowl died in four hours and seven minutes; the 
blood was the same in both. 
Experiment No. 10. 
A full-grown Pariah Dog was bitten in the thigh by the 
Bungarus c ter ulcus, from Delhi, four feet in length, at 12.31. 
For the first few minutes no apparent effect. 12.44.—The Dog 
is looking sluggish, stands with his head stretched, and has a 
vacant look. 12.50.—Vomited very freely. 12.59.—Lying 
down, apparently affected with ataxy ; cannot co-ordinate his 
muscles of locomotion; frothing at the mouth; when made to 
stand, shakes about in a state of obvious helplessness. 1.2.— 
Lying down; very restless, making efforts to move the limbs 
in every direction. 1.5.—Tried to get up, fell over, with con¬ 
vulsive movements. 1.10.—Convulsed generally. 1.15.—Sar¬ 
donic grin ; convulsive twitchings of diaphragm and abdominal 
muscles; convulsions. 1.23.—Dead—in fifty-two minutes. 
The thorax opened at 1.30. The blood in the great vessels 
and heart very dark and treacly-looking ; but it reddened 
somewhat on exposure to the air, and soon formed into a 
tolerably firm and complete clot. The quantity was consi¬ 
derable, but there was no separation of clots and serum whilst 
I saw it, until 2.30. The integument was raised over the bite : 
the punctures were not perceptible below the skin; the areolar 
tissue was discoloured and cedematous, but not to any great 
extent. 
Experiment No. 11. 
A Fowl was bitten by a Bungarus cceruleus, twenty-eight 
inches long (also from Delhi) in the neck at 12.50. 12.50.30.— 
Crouching. 12.56.—Drooping, head fallen over. 12.59.—Con¬ 
vulsed. 1.7.—Dead—in seventeen minutes. 
The blood was removed from the Fowl’s body after death, 
and it coagulated firmly at once. This Krait was very thin and 
sluggish. 
Experiment No. 12. 
A Fowl was bitten in the thigh by another Bungarus cceruleus, 
about twenty-eight inches long, but much thicker than that of 
Experiment No. 11, at 12.40. 12.58.—No effect. Bitten again 
by same Krait. 1.7.—-No effect. 1.14.—Not affected. The 
Fowl remained unaffected. 
Experiment No. 13. 
Another Fowl bitten by the same Krait as in Experiment 
No. 12 in the thigh, at 1.13.—It bit well and drew blood. No 
effects followed. The Fowl remained quite well. 
The Krait was active and vigorous; its fangs were uninjured, 
and it had not been used before ; it was one of the three from 
Delhi. The other two were poisonous, but it from some reason 
or other was not venomous. 
Such cases explain some of the recoveries from snake-bites, 
and the supposed effect of antidotes. 
Experiment No. 14. 
A “ Bans-buniah Keautiali” (Cobra) fifty-two inches in length, 
was severely bitten on the body by a Bungarus cceruleus, forty- 
eight inches in length, at 1.22 p.m. Up to 8 a.m. of the next 
day the Cobra was unaffected. 
On the 10th August at 1 p.m. it was found dead. It was 
bitten on the 8th. This may have been due to natural causes, 
but the snake was well when it was bitten. 
Experiment No. 15. 
A Bungarus cceruleus, twenty-eight inches long, the one that 
bit the Fowl on the neck ( vide Experiment No. 11), was bitten 
at 12.55 by a very powerful Cobra (“ Tentuliah Keautiah ) in 
the body. The fangs of the Cobra were heard to strike the 
Krait’s spine. 1.8.—Very sluggish, can hardly move. 1.32. 
Gradually becoming paralysed. 1.35.—Dead. 
I think there can be no doubt that the Krait died of the 
