On preservation of health in India / by Sir Joseph Fayrer.

  • Fayrer, Joseph, Sir, 1824-1907.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On preservation of health in India / by Sir Joseph Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    31/40 (page 31)
    mention those that most specially call for notice, and it would be quite impossible for me to do more in the brief opportunity afforded by one lecture. I must add a few words on snake bites, musquitos, centi- pedes, scorpions, &c. The order Ophidia has three divisions : O. colubriformes, innocuous ; 0. colubriformes venenosi, and 0. viperiformes, venomous. The poison apparatus of a snake consists of a gland, situ- ated in the temporal region, which secretes a clear, slightly viscid fluid, that is poured through a duct into a grooved fang situated on a movable maxillary bone, capable of erection and reclination, to a greater extent in viperine than in colubriform snakes, bjr the action of muscles which push forward the maxillary bones, raise the fang, at the same time compress the gland, eject the poison through the duct into the groove in the fang, and thus hypodermically inject it into the bitten part. The fangs are longer, more curved, more movable, and more formidable in viperine than in colubrine snakes—they are deciduous, and when lost by accident or shed are quickly replaced by reserve fangs that lie loose in a fold of mucous membrane. Viperine snakes can recline or erect each fang independ- ently of the other. This power is limited in colubrine snakes. The poison is secreted in considerable quantities ; half a drachm may be collected from a fresh and vigorous cobra. It is very deadly in its action, probably more active in some snakes, quantity for quantity, than in others, and varying in activity in the same species or individual, accord- ing to season, temperature, state of health, etc. It acts most rapidly when injected into the blood ; but it can be absorbed through mucous and serous membranes, as seen by its poisonous effects when applied to the eye, the stomach, the peritoneum. It may neither be applied to the lips nor taken into the stomach with impunity, and sucking a snake bite is by no means free from danger, though if the saliva be quickly ejected and the mouth washed, the danger is diminished. It contains an active principle, and is very