EXPERIMENTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF SNAKE-POISON. 
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and most vicious I have seen. It had been recently caught. 
It bit the Dog on botli thighs with great force, and not only 
injected its poison into the wound, but over the bitten part. 
It held on with great tenacity and could hardly be made to let 
go, making fresh efforts to imbed its fangs more deeply. 
2.18.—The Dog seems sluggish; vomited. 2.30.—Coughing. 
2.55.—Laid down. 3.5.—Convulsed. 3.10.—Purged. 3.15 — 
Paralysed. 3.20.—Dead—in one hour and twelve minutes. 
This experiment shows how uncertain the action of the 
poison may be. This Dog did not die for seventy-two minutes, 
although it was bitten most severely by a fresh and very 
vigorous and vicious Cobra. Generally from the ordinary bite 
of a medium-sized Cobra a Dog dies in less than three-quarters 
of an hour. The blood of this Dog coagulated firmly three 
hours after death. 
Experiment No. 31. 
A Fowl was bitten on the thigh by a Cobra at 1.58 p.m. 
Limped immediately; then crouched ; head fell over. 1.59.— 
Convulsed. 1.59.30.—Dead—in ninety seconds. 
Blood coagulated very firmly immediately after death. 
Experiment No. 32. 
Some of the blood of the above Fowl was mixed with water and 
the clot broken down, so that it would pass through the hypo¬ 
dermic syringe; it was then injected at 2.4 p.m. into the thighs 
of a Fowl—one syringeful into each. 2.6.—Crouched. 2.25.— 
Drowsy; eyes closed. 3.15.—Walks about sluggishly and is lame. 
5.15.—Feathers ruffled; very sluggish. 8.35.—In convulsions. 
9.5. — Nearly dead. 3.29 a.m.— It did not actually die till about 
this time. The blood coagulated on removal from the body. 
This again quite decides the question whether the blood of 
an animal poisoned by snake virus is poisonous or not. 
October 15 th, 1870. 
Present, Dr. Fayrer. 
Experiment No. 33. 
A Pariah Dog was bitten by an Echis carincita in the thigh at 
1.50 p.m, 2. — The Dog staggers on his hind-legs. 2.30. — 
Very weak ; staggers on the hind-legs. 3.—Very sluggish and 
lame. 4. —In the same condition; wound and leg much 
swollen. 8.—Very sluggish and lame. 
After this the Dog began to recover, and on the 17th was 
well, though the limb was still considerably swollen. 
Experiment No. 34. 
A Pariah Dog was bitten by another Echis carinata in the 
thigh at 2.38. The snake is sickly and weak from long confine¬ 
ment, and would not bite freely. The Dog became sluggish ; 
lame, and the leg swelled, but the symptoms passed away, and 
next day it was well. In both these cases the vipers were weak 
and exhausted. They were those from Delhi, and had been a 
long time without food, for they will not eat in confinement. 
They had lost much of their vivacity and aggressiveness, and 
one was provoked to bite with difficulty. The effects of the 
bite were severe, but yet not fatal. 
It is a remarkable thing that none of these JEchis have shed 
their epidermis since they came here three months ago ; not a 
trace of a slough is found in their cage. They are thinner, less 
brilliant in colour, and much less aggressive than they were. 
Three only survive. 
TWENTY-SIXTH SERIES. 
October 31^, 1870. 
Experiments on the Action of the Poisons of Trimeresurus monticola, 
Echis carinata, Eungarus ccendeus, and Ncija tri/pudians. 
Present, Dr. Fayrer, Dr. Stoliczka, Mr. Wood Mason, M.A. 
I am indebted to Dr. Stoliczka for a very fine living speci¬ 
men of Trimeresurus monticola, which he has just brought to 
Calcutta. It was caught near a house in Runghby, 5000 feet 
above the sea, about twelve miles S.E. of Darjeeling. It is a 
female, beautifully marked with the square dark spots on a 
sort of cinnamon grey ground. The head is dark, with a 
peculiar iridescence. The mark well developed. It is twenty- 
nine inches in length, of which the tail measures three 
inches, and it is three and a quarter in girth at the thickest 
part of the body. The eye is very small, with an oval or 
vertical pupil. The snake is sluggish until disturbed, when 
it tries to move off rapidly. It does not hiss or show 
any marked signs of anger; but when taken up by the snake- 
man, and a Fowl’s thigh presented, it bit fiercely. The fangs 
are long, very mobile, like those of the Daboia or Echis, but not 
relatively so long in this individual. 
Experiment No. 1. 
A Fowl was bitten in the thigh by Trimeresurus monticola at 
11.25. It bit fiercely, and imbedded its fangs; some of the 
poison was shed on the limb about the bites. The Fowl on 
being placed on the ground fell over almost immediately (in 
thirty seconds), and in a minute lay perfectly paralysed on the 
ground. 11.32.—Still alive, but lies quite paralysed; breathes 
deeply. 11.35.—Slightly convulsed. 11.36.—Breathes. 11.42.—- 
No change ; still breathes. 11.48 —In the same condition, quite 
insensible. 11.54.—Breathing more perceptible—deeper. The 
limb is much ecchymosed and swollen about the bites. 12.3._ 
Breathing continues as before. 12.12.—Lies perfectly motion¬ 
less ; eyes closed and watering. The breathing is more percep¬ 
tible. It is evidently not so much affected ; raised its head ; 
opened its eyes. When taken up, and the beak placed in water, 
it drinks. It is still perfectly paralysed, and when placed on the 
ground lies helpless. 12.25.—Drinks freely when its beak is 
brought to the water. Opens the eyes. 12.35.—When placed 
in a bowl of cold water it is roused. 12.47. — Tries to 
stand; nearly able to do so, but its head falls over. It did 
not improve further. The following notes were taken: 
1.40.—Sluggish. 2.30.—Convulsed. 3.45.—Dead. 
The blood removed from the body after death coagulated, but 
very imperfectly. The limb was deeply ecchymosed and much 
swollen. The first effects of the injection of the poison were 
very marked, and the bird fell over as though bitten by the 
most powerful Cobra or Daboia, but this depression did not 
continue, and from the most extreme state of paralysis it to a 
great extent recovered. The breathing throughout was regular 
and deep. The local effects of the wound were very severe; 
after recovering so far as to be conscious, and nearly able to 
stand, it got worse again and died at 3.45, or in four hours and 
twenty minutes. 
It is evident from this experiment that the poison is much 
less deadly than that of the Cobra, Eungarus, or Viper. The 
snake was a very fine one, in perfect health, comparatively fresh, 
and had not bitten since its capture. 
Experiment No. 2. 
A small Pariah Dog, quite young, was bitten by the Trimere¬ 
surus at 11.27 a.m. The snake again bit fiercely, and imbedded 
its fangs. The Dog on being put down was lame in the bitten 
leg. 11.32.—Lying down; breathing hurried, the animal evi¬ 
dently in great distress; when made to raise the bitten limb is 
powerless. 11.38.—Dog lying down; sluggish, but quite 
conscious. 11.42, — Breathing irregular; when roused walks 
on three legs, the bitten leg drawn up. 11.52.—The thigh is 
much swollen and discoloured. The limb seems quite powerless. 
12.6.—Is better, walks, and is just able to put the foot to the 
ground. 12.14. — Improving. He is still very lame and 
sluggish, though less so than before. 12.19.—Improving. 
12.25.—Still drags the leg. 12.55.—Is much better; the con¬ 
stitutional effects of the poison are evidently passing off; but 
the leg is still swollen and lame. 
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