A*r.  Joub.  Phakm.  > 
Oct.  1,  1873.  J 
Snake  Poisons. 
469 
vitality  of  the  blood  had  been  suddenly  destroyed,  exactly  as  in 
death  from  lightning.  This  agrees,  also,  with  another  experiment, 
performed  on  a  fowl,  where  the  whole  mass  of  the  blood  appeared 
quite  liquid,  having  little  coagulablo  power. 
Analyses  of  cobra  poison  have  lately  been  made  by  Mr.  Henry 
Armstrong,  of  London.  The  matter,  extracted  from  fall-grown 
serpents,  was  forwarded  from  India  in  small  vials,  and  appeared  to 
be  a  brownish,  syrupy  liquid  ;  from  which,  when  the  vessels  were  un- 
corked, a  quantity  of  gas  escaped.  Examinations  were  made,  first, 
of  the  crude  substance,  second,  of  the  precipitate  caused  by  the  ad- 
dition of  alcohol,  and  finally  of  the  residue  obtained  by  evaporating 
the  filtered  spirits,  with  the  following  results  :  The  raw  poison  evapo- 
rated with  sulphuric  acid  in  vacuo  deposited  a  friable  mass  which 
contained  43'55  per  cent,  carbon  and  13*43  per  cent,  nitrogen.  The 
white  precipitate  dried  with  sulphuric  acid,  under  similar  circum- 
stances, appeared  as  a  pale  brown  substance,  easily  pulverized,  and 
leaving,  after  incineration,  a  light  mineral  residuum.  It  contained 
45'3  per  cent,  carbon  and  14  7  per  cent,  nitrogen,  and  also  2  5  per 
cent,  of  sulphur  was  determined.  The  alcoholic  solution,  similarly 
evaporated,  left  a  light  brown  friable  mass,  composed  of  43  04  per 
cent,  carbon,  12*45  per  cent,  nitrogen,  and  7  per  cent,  hydrogen. 
It  was  found  impossible  to  crystallize  the  poisonous  substance,  neither 
water,  alcohol,  ether,  bisulphide  of  carbon,  or  any  other  dissolvent 
employed  leaving  the  slightest  trace  of  crystals  after  evaporation. 
Nitric  acid  and  alcohol  determined  a  coagulum  ;  heat  produced  the 
same  effect.  The  salts  of  copper  and  potash  caused  the  violet  color 
characteristic  of  the  presence  of  albuminoid  matter. 
The  liquor,  it  appeared,  resisted  decomposition  and  maintained  its 
activity  even  after  being  kept  for  considorable  time,  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  poison  were  noted  to  be  equally  powerful  in  all  the 
three  states  above  mentioned. 
M.  Fayrer  considers  that  to  cobra  poison  may  be  ascribed  a  nature 
similar  to  that  of  vaccine  virus,  and  believes  that  much  may  be  discov- 
ered by  extended  experiment.  He  says  that  viper  venom  acts  directly  on 
the  blood  and  secondarily  on  the  nervous  system,  and  adds  that  it 
may  be  that,  by  careful  and  reasonable  employment,  this  powerful 
poison  may  be  converted  into  a  useful  remedy,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  to  prove  why,  by  extended  experiment  and  study,  a  complete 
and  prompt  antidote  may  not  be  found. 
From  all  accounts  it  appears  that  the  rattlesnake  (crotalus  duns- 
