101 
THE THANATOPIIIDIA OP INDIA. 
even less. It follows, then, that the symptoms of poisoning must 
vary from the slightest to the most fatal. This is indeed well 
shown in the above experiments. In Experiment 15 the Dog 
was convulsed, and appeared as if it would die, though it 
ultimately recovered ; and in Experiment 1G, though a greater 
quantity of poison was injected, the animal scarcely suffered 
at all. Experiments 27, 28, and 29 would seem to indicate 
that some constitutions have the power to resist the action of 
the poison better than others. In Experiment 27 the Fowl 
was sickly, though large, and it died in five minutes after the 
injection of the sixteenth part of a grain of Daboia poison. 
The small Fowl, into which a similar quantity of poison had 
been injected, did not die until twenty-five hours and fifty- 
seven minutes had elapsed. And the Fowl used in Experiment 
29, though it was larger and had been injected with the thirty- 
second part of a grain only, died in nine hours and forty-one 
minutes. There is a marked difference in the power of the 
Daboia and Cobra poisons. Quantity for quantity, the Cobra 
poison is much stronger. Thus we find that in Experiment 11 
one grain of Cobra poison killed the Dog in six hours and 
twenty-seven minutes ; and in Experiment 17, the Dog being of 
the same size and strength as that used in the former experiment, 
one grain of Daboia poison had very little effect. In Experiment 
23 one grain and a half of Daboia poison did not kill until 
fifteen hours and eight minutes after the injection of the 
poison. Fresh Cobra poison is of course infinitely quicker in 
its action than the dissolved dried poison, though it is not 
more certainly fatal. The poison of the Daboia is a much 
greater local irritant than that of the Cobra. The parts, after 
the injection of Daboia poison, became very much swollen, and 
after death, when cut into, presented an appearance not unlike 
red-currant jelly. In Daboia bite the blood of the poisoned 
animal is invariably fluid and non-coagulable; but it is re¬ 
markable that in the animals used in Experiments 23, 27, 28, 
and 29 £ Daboia poison having been hypodermically injected), 
the blood coagulated. I am at a loss to understand why this 
should be. In all the other cases in which Cobra poison was 
used, the blood was, as usual, coagulable. It would appear 
that sufficient poison is shed by a Cobra at one bite to poison 
about from three to five human beings, or from eight to twelve 
dogs, or two or three cows, or from 100 to 200 Fowls. These 
experiments by no means exhaust the subject; but, unfor¬ 
tunately, I have no assistance, and it is impossible for one man 
to carry on thoroughly a series of experiments requiring con¬ 
stant attention when he has other important duties to perform. 
It would be very interesting to test all snake-poison in this 
manner.” 
Treatment by the Intra- Venous Injection of Ammonia. 
The following additional experiments were performed by the 
intra-venous injection of ammonia:— 
Experiment No. 30. 
Two grains and a half of Cobra poison were hypodermically 
injected into a Cow. Three drachms of liq. ammonias were 
injected into the left jugular vein. The animal died in seven 
hours. 
Experiment No. 31. 
Injected three-quarters of a grain of Cobra poison into the 
jugular vein of a Dog. Eighty drops of ammonia were then 
injected. Dead—in ten minutes. 
Experiment No. 32. 
Hypodermically injected three-quarters of a grain of Cobra 
poison (this was only sufficient to kill) into the thigh of a 
large Dog. Injected at different times 120 drops of liq. 
ammonias into the jugular vein. Dead—in four hours and 
fifteen minutes. 
Experiment No. 33. 
Hypodermically injected half a grain of Cobra poison into the 
thigh of a middling-sized Dog. Sixty drops of ammonia injected 
at different times into the jugular vein. Dead—in three hours 
and twenty-five minutes. 
The above experiments were performed in the presence of 
Mr. E. D., of the Indian Telegraph Department. If the in¬ 
jection of ammonia is of any use in Australian snake-poisoning, 
there must be a considerable difference in the nature of the 
poison, as it is quite useless in Indian snake-poisoning. 
Experiment No. 34. 
Hypodermically injected half a grain of Cobra poison into the 
thigh of a full-grown Dog. Injected forty drops of ammonia 
into the jugular vein. Dead—in six hours and thirty-seven 
minutes. 
Artificial Desjiiration. 
Experiment No. 35. 
A small Pariah Dog was bitten by a Sea-snake ( Dnliydrina 
benyalensis ) at 11.45 a.m. This snake, with seven others, 
was brought to me from Chandipore, on the sea-coast, eight 
miles from the station, several days ago, and has since been 
kept in my bathing-tub, which is half filled with sea-water, a 
good supply of fish being kept up. It was quite fresh, and bit 
viciously. The Dog gradually became affected, and at 11.50 
a.m. I opened the trachea, inserted a canula, and commenced 
artificial respiration by means of a pair of bellows. When 
artificial respiration was commenced, the animal to all ap¬ 
pearances was dead; but after continuing it for five minutes 
there was one convulsive movement of the body. The heart 
continued to beat until 12.29 p.m., when it suddenly ceased. 
This case shows how rapidly fatal the bite of a Sea-snake may 
be. Death (apparent) occurred fifteen minutes after the bite, 
and artificial respiration was continued for nearly half an hour. 
Experiment No, 36. 
A Dog was bitten by a Cobra at 11.50 p.m. At 12.30 p.m. 
artificial respiration was commenced, the Dog being appa¬ 
rently quite dead, except that the heart continued to beat 
at intervals. 12.40 p.m. —Convulsive movements of the mouth 
and limbs. These were continued up to 1.15 p.m. When they 
ceased, the animal micturated. 1.32 p.m. —Heart still beating. 
1.45 p.m. —Heart still beating, but more regularly. 1.55 p.m.— 
The pulse (femoral) beats so rapidly that it cannot be counted. 
2.20 p.m. —Heart still beating rapidly; temperature 99°. 
2.45 p.m. —Heart beating quickly and somewhat irregularly; 
temperature 98°'40. 2.55 p.m. —Pulse much weaker and more 
irregular; temperature 97 o- 50 (rapidly falling). 3.10 p.m.— 
Temperature 98°'20; heart ceased to beat. 
In this case death (apparent) occurred forty minutes after 
the bite, and the heart continued to beat for two hours and 
forty minutes. I found half an ounce of urine in the bladder, 
which I injected into the thigh of a Fowl. The bird to all 
appearances remained perfectly unaffected. 
Experiment No. 37. 
A Pariah Dog was bitten by a fresh Cobra at 1.5 p.m. The 
Cobra bit the Dog most fiercely. 1.30 p.m. —Struggling vio¬ 
lently ; artificial respiration commenced. The heart continued 
to beat until half-past three, when it ceased. Artificial respira¬ 
tion was continued until five o’clock. I have my doubts 
as to whether artificial respiration was properly kept up by my 
assistant during my unavoidable absence. The blood in these 
instances did not coagulate firmly, as is usual. The blood as 
usual was fluid in the case of the Daboia bite. 
