140 
THE TITANATOPHIDIA OF INDIA. 
Eestless; sick. 1.58.—Another pill administered. 2.10.— 
Frothing at the month.: restless. 2.15.—Vomited, and con¬ 
vulsed. 2.25.—Dying. 2.30.—Dead—in two hours. 
The Cobras were both long in confinement, one was moulting, 
and both bit under most (to them) unfavourable circumstances. 
The Dog had two pills before the bite and two after ; but I do 
not think they produced any effect, unless indeed the short de¬ 
lay in death—two hours—was attributable to the pills and not 
to the condition of the snakes. 
Experiment No. 17. 
The second Dog was bitten at 12.30, but also imperfectly, for 
the same reason. It was not the same snake as either of those 
used in the last experiment; it bad also been some weeks in 
confinement. A pill was given within three or four minutes 
after the bite. 
12.40.—The Dog lies down, but is apparently not affected as 
yet. 1.10.—Seems restless; another pill given. 1.15. 
Not affected 1.25.—Bitten again by another Cobra, also not 
fresh : it took hold, but did not seem to insert its fangs. An¬ 
other Cobra, also old, was tried ; it seemed to bite slightly; for 
the Dog limped on the bitten leg after the bite. 1.35. Seems 
sluggish ; breathes hurriedly. 1.55.—Is lame. 2.10. An¬ 
other pill given. 2.15.—Licks the wound. 2.25. Frothing 
at the mouth. 2.55.—Fell down, unable to stand. 3.5. 
Convulsed. 3.20.—Dead—in two hours and sixty minutes. 
In this case also death took place later than usual; but as 
the Cobras were not fresh, having been weeks in confinement, 
their poison was probably weak. In neither of these cases 
therefore is there any satisfactory evidence that the Tanjore 
pill had any beneficial effect. The blood of both Dogs coagu¬ 
lated firmly after death. 
October 1th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 18. 
A Tanjore pill was given at 8 a.m., and a second at 10 a.m., 
to a full-grown Pariah Dog. At 12.30 it was bitten by a 
Cobra (not fresh, one of those of yesterday) in the thigh; the 
snake-man was present to-day. The Dog limped very slightly 
after being bitten. A third pill was given at 12.45 p.m. 
1.10 p.m —The Dog staggers, and is slightly convulsed. A 
fourth pill given. It was purged ; sanguinolent motion. 1.15 — 
Fell down in convulsions. 1.17.—Dead—in forty-four minutes. 
Experiment No. 19. 
The following experiment is instructive. I removed both 
active fangs, breaking them short off with a pair of forceps, 
from a large Cobra, and one of the loose reserve fangs as well, 
at about 1.40 p.m. I then made it close its jaws on a Fowl’s 
thigh; it bit savagely, and made a slight scratch, perhaps with 
its palatine teeth, perhaps with the root of the broken fang. 
At 2.20 the Fowl was observed to be drowsy. 2.30.— 
Crouched. 3.5.—No convulsions. 4.50.—Still alive; con¬ 
vulsed. 5.15.—Dead. 
This experiment illustrates the very deadly nature of the 
poison, and the danger of carelessly handling Cobras, even when 
deprived of their fangs. A quantity of poison was shed into 
the mucous sheath, and with this the scratch was inoculated, 
and caused death in about three hours and a half. 
Experiment No. 20. 
A Dog had a Tanjore pill given at 8 and 10 a.m. At 12.40 
p.m. it was bitten, but slightly, by a Baboia in the thigh. The 
snake was sluggish, indisposed to bite. A third pill given at 
12.50. The Dog limps a little on the bitten leg. 
] } 5 p. M ,_A fourth pill given. 1.30. —Dog lies down, and 
seems sluggish. 2.10. — Purged. 2.20.—Vomited. 2.35. — 
Convulsed. 3.25.—Very weak. It remained in this exhausted 
state, and was found dead at 8 p.m. 
The blood remained fluid after death, as usual in viperine 
poisoning. 
Experiment No. 21. 
A full-grown Echis carinata was bitten severely by a Cobra at 
1.20 p.m., in two places about the middle of the body. 
3.15 p.m.— Sluggish. 7.—Ditto. 
October, 8th. 0.10 p.m.— Sluggish. 9.15.—Dead. 
I think it is more than probable that the Echis died of the 
Cobra poison ; it is certainly possible that the fang wounds 
may have caused death. I believe that poisonous snakes are 
susceptible to a certain degree of the poison of others, especially 
when a small individual is bitten by a large one of another 
species. 
October 11 th. 
Experiment No. 22. 
A Bimgarus cceruleus was bitten severely by an Echis carinata 
in three places at 1.10 p.m. The needle-like fangs penetrated 
with difficulty. No effect produced. On the 15th October the 
Bimgarus cceruleus was quite well. 
Experiment No. 23. 
A Cobra was bitten by a large Bung cirus cceruleus at 1.15, in 
the body and neck ; no effect produced. The Cobra continued 
in its ordinary state on the 15th October. 
Experiment No. 24. 
An Bcliis carinata, twenty-two inches long, was bitten severely 
by a powerful Cobra in two places. It became sluggish, and 
died on the following day at 9.15 a.m. There was a discoloured 
patch in the skin of the abdomen from one of the bites. It 
may have died of the wound independently of the poison. 
Experiment No. 25. 
A Bungarus cceruleus was bitten at 1.20 p.m. by a Baboia. 
The Baboia did not bite readily; it had been long in confine¬ 
ment, had bitten often, and was probably weak, but it did insert 
its fangs. No evil results ; the Krait remained unaffected. 
Experiment No. 2G. 
Some poison from the Echis put into a Fowl’s eye at 1.19 
p.m. ; great chemosis followed, and all the symptoms of poison¬ 
ing were manifested. The bird crouched, was purged, and 
became very sluggish, but it recovered, and next day was quite 
well. The Echis had bitten frequently, and had been more than 
two months in confinement, refusing all food. I observed that 
the minute drop of poison was not clear, but more like mucus. 
Experiment No. 27. 
The same experiment repeated with exactly the same results. 
Experiment No. 28. 
On the 7th of October I carefully removed the fang on either 
side from a large Echis, and noticed particularly that there were 
no other fixed fangs, though there were others quite loose in 
the mucous membrane capsule. On examining the same Echis 
on the lltlx October, fifth day, I found a fang firmly anchylosed 
on either side, and ready for work. 
Experiment No. 29. 
A Cobra had its fangs removed (pulled out) on the 7th of 
October. On the 15th there were no new fangs produced. This 
Cobra killed a Fowl after its fangs were removed. The poison 
must have been inoculated into the minute wounds made by the 
palatine teeth. On the 31st October the new fangs had replaced 
those removed. 
Experiment No. 30. 
A powerful Pariah Dog was bitten at 2.8 p.m. on either thigh by 
a very large and vigorous Cobra (“Gokurrah”), one of the largest 
