Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-06-16
SeI1pents and their Poison.
ANTIDoTE For SNAKE BITES.

In the E'agiisimaa Of. the 9th of Aug
ust, very interesting series of expert
ments, undertaken by DIR. Fayrer, of
Calcutta, was published. They seem to
have been carried on with the greatest
care; and were valuable, both from the
variety of antidote which came under
consideration, and also from the fact of
their being conducted by professional
men alone, who were, consequently, well
qualified to administer the remedies to
the greatest advantage. A fowl was Bit
ten by a cobra, (not fresh one, and
which had bitten before.) 1t died in
seven minutes, although treated with
fifteen drops ofstrong 'Condy's solution,
injected by hypodermic syringe.
A dog was then bitten by cobra un-
der similar circumstances. In seventeen
and half minutes he fell over. Sixty
drops of liz. ammonia, sp. gr. $50, were
injected into the crural vein No i'm
provement was apparent. Forty drops
more were injected after the lapse of ten
minutes. In twenty five minutes the dog
was dead.
The external jugular vein of dog
was exposed forty drops Of the lib. potas
permanganate (Condy's) wee injected
After thirteen minutes had elapsed he
was bitten by large cobra (not fresh,
and which had bitten before, and bad been
some time in captivity In one min
ute the bitten leg was paralyzed. In
two MINUTES he lay down. After four
minutes forty more drops of the same flu
id were injected no improvement effect
ed. After twenty-four minutes forty
more drops were administered still
there was no change for the better. In
thirty-seven minutes the dog was dead.
A dogs external jugular vein was ex-
posed. Four drops of the poison Of a
somewhat weakly cobra were injected
One drop may have been lost; the re-
naming three entered the system. The
dog was treated with sixty drops of am
monia, injected into the juglar vein.
No amendment ensued, and the dog died
in ffty-fve minutes.
The jugular vein of dog was expos
ed. He was then bitten in the thigh by
a fresh cobra. lnone minute symptoms of
distress were visible. Within six min
utes of the infiction Of the wound he
wrs treated with solution of quinine ;
sixty drops were injected of strength
of one grain in eight drops No amend
ment occurred In eleven minutes the
dog was dead.
Equal parts of cobra poison and liq.
ammonia, sp. gr. .959, were mixed to-
gether, and fifteen drops of the mixed
fluid were injected with the hypodermic
syringe into a pigeon thigh The pig
eon died in two minutes. This is very
| unfavorable to the theory of the antido-
TAI actlon OF llq. ammonia.
Ten drops of fresh cobra poison were
injected into the jugular vein of full
grown dog. Within one minute sixty
drops of ammonia were injected but the
action of the poison was so rapid that
the dog died almost before the second
injection could be completed lii seven
ty seconds he was dead. This shows the
frightful virulence of the poison when
administered in large quantities. DIR.
Fayrer here observes: GLOW can such
death be explained, except by exhaus-
ton of the nerve centers? Any theory
of bloodchange is surely totally inappli-
cable here. A parish dog was bitten in
the forearm by cobra. A ligature,
which had been previously placed loosely
above the part bitten, was Immediately
tightened, and the actual cautery Of the
wound was performed by piece of
pointed steel heated to red heat. In ten
minutes the dog staggered. Ammonia
was injected into the jugular vein. The
SYMPTOMS became aggravated, and death
epsued in forty-three minutes in spite of
the careful application of the ligature.
A second dog, smaller than the first,
was bitten, and received smaller treat
ment, With the exception of the ammo.
MIA. He died in thirty-fve minutes
The cobra which had already caused
the death of the former of these two dogs
was made TO bite seven fowls and one
pigeon in quick succession. OF these
seven died, and the eight, though show
ing symptoms of suffering, eventually
recovered. 1t is curious to notice the
gradually diminishing yirulence of the
poison on each successive occasion. The
first fowl died in three minutes, the sec
ond in ten, the third in eleven, the fourth
"a very large one) in seventeen, the fifth
in twenty-five, the pigeon in forty-two,
the sixth fowl in forty-nine minutes.
Mr.. Fayrer remarks The cobra was
neither very large nor very vigorous
ono and yet how deadly EIGHT oraa