Page:AJWall Indian Snake Poisons.djvu/8



The following is an attempt to present in a concise form the chief features of snake-poisoning as seen in India. The object that has been kept in view has been to define, as closely as possible, the conditions on which the mortality from snake-bite depends, both as regards the physiological nature of the poisoning process, and the relations between the reptiles and their victims, so as to indicate the way in which we should best proceed with the hope of diminishing the fearful mortality that exists.

The observations were made by the author in India under the auspices of the Government. It was during the experiments made for the purpose of finding out the exact cause of the fatal results — one of the first steps that must be taken whenever a method of treatment is sought — that the great and numerous differences in the effects of the various poisons became manifest.

Although every effort has been made to test the