Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/551

 ii s. v. JCNE s, i9i2.] NOTES AND QU ERIES.

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him for this service, of which Wigmore Castle was the chief defence and his residence.

Some years afterwards Ralph, his eldest son, greatly distinguished himself by the reduction of Sylvaticus, Earl of Shrewsbury. He led him in chains to the King, who re- warded him with the regrant of Wigmore, which was necessary owing to the death of William Fitz Osberne in 1070.

Ralph resumed his grandfather's name of Mortimer, and his descendants still bear it, but his brother's family the de Wigmores in time assumed the name of their estates, as Lingen, Pedwardyn, Brampton, and Whitney. If proof were needed that the Mortimers were the descendants of Turstin de Wigmore, the fact that they inherited his freedom from service is sufficient. His [Turstin's] lineage got quittance from service to

pay

On their lands for the service he rendered that day, And still and for ever his heirs for his deed A grant of free heritage hold, as their meed.

' Roman de la Rose.'

Why the Mortimers possessed this freedom from service has often puzzled modern historians.

I have not seen any of the foregoing statements in print, except Mr. J. IL Round's remark in ' Feudal England,' p. 324, where he calls Turstin Fitz Rou, Turstin ''Mortimer," although known at that time as Turstin de Wigmore.

Mr. Round later proved in the ' Victoria History of Herefordshire ' that theWhitneys were Turstin de Wigmore's descendants through his marriage with Agnes, the daughter of Alured de Merleberge, in 1080.

J. WIGMORE.

SNAKE POISON (US. v. 388). There is no chemical formula for snake poison. Each genus of venomous snakes (few among many genera of snakes) has its own poison, a ferment, analogous to ptyaline or to pepsine, contained in the saliva. I have had for many years a quantity of cobra venom, most of it dried, some preserved by glycerine. I took it from a great number of live cobras brought to me when making, for the Govern- ment of Mysore, an experimental destruction of venomous snakes on a small area. I may say that the result of this experiment was most satisfactory ; the system of rewards for venomous snakes was dropped, and the mortality ascribed to them de- creased. By pressure on the cheeks of a live cobra, the saliva can be squeezed from the glands ; it passes out through the ducts, and can be received on a watch-glass ;

there it dries very soon, and the dry venom can be scraped off in scales similar to those of pepsine. It keeps its properties for years. I have made no use of mine, not wishing to encourage, however indirectly, the manu- facture of serums for India.

Certainly persons in charge of a serpen- tarium, and having to cram cobras for these snakes do not feed in captivity might be rendered immune, in case of accident, by the injection of cobra venom in small doses gradually increased. But this would not avail against the venom of other kinds of venomous snakes. Yet faith in it would strengthen the nerve, and with good nerve any venomous snake can be handled.

With regard to the strictly medical uses of snake venom, I doubt whether it has been tried, except homceopathically. The late Dr. Hayward of Liverpool used rattlesnake venom internally a little of it would go a very long way in homoeopathic dilution and wrote a book on its effects.

EDWARD NICHOLSON.

According to the latest investigations, the poison of snakes is a mixture of three toxins, viz., ha&molysin, neurotoxiii, and hsemorrhagin. I have not been able to find an analysis of the poison of the viper, but the chemical formula of that of the cobra di capella is C'TI 2 ^ 10. Some kinds of cutaneous eruptions have been treated with snake poison, but it is considered to be a useless and highly dangerous treatment. Cf. Dr. Ernst Schmidt, ' Lehrbuch der pharmazeut- ischen Chemie ' (Braunschweig, 1911), vol. ii. part ii. under ' Ophiotoxin,' and Moeller and Thorns, ' Real-Enzyclopadie der gesammten Pharmazie,' vol. ii. (Berlin. 1908). The only reference to a book in English I have been able to find is ' Researches upon the Venoms of Poisonous Serpents ' (Washington, 1887).

L. L. K.

RENIRA will find the information he requires in the works of the late Sir Joseph Fayrer, the greatest modern authority on the subject. A useful epitome of his re- searches, by Sir Joseph, will be found in Quain's ; Dictionary of Medicine,' under ' Venom.' Pereira's ' Materia Medica,' 3 vols., 1855, should also be consulted. Ho'oper's ' Medical Dictionary,' 1820, says a broth of snakes' flesh was formerly used as a restorative medicine. M.D,

Viper poison is still used by homoeopathic doctors in this country under the name of Lachesis. W. B. S.