VI. The physiological action and antidotes of colubrine and viperine snake venoms

Abstract
Although the poison of the Cobra has long been the subject of careful investigation, those of the other Indian poisonous Colubrine snakes have received comparatively little attention, in spite of their well-known deadliness. Now that Calmette’s antivenin has been proved to be effective against Cobra venom it is a matter of considerable importance to ascertain if the physiological action of the remaining Colubrine snake-venoms is similar to that of the Cobra or not, and whether Calmette’s serum is effective against them also, or if it is necessary to prepare others which will act in their case on similar lines. The fact, which I have recently demonstrated (1), that the poison of the Sea-snakes is identical in its physiological action with Cobra venom, although of greater potency, suggests the hope that it may prove possible to obtain a single antidote which will be effective against both these large classes of venomous snakes. I have, therefore, obtained the dried poisons from India, and in Part I. of this paper propose to describe their actions and to discuss the bearing of the facts recorded on the above problem. 1. Naia Bungarus, or Hamadriad . This deadly reptile is found, according to Fayrer (2), most frequently in Bengal, Assam, Burma and Southern India, and is by far the largest of the Indian poisonous snakes, and probably the largest in the world, the specimen from which my venom was obtained having measured 13 feet in length. The dried poison has an orange colour. I am not aware that its physiological action has been closely investigated before, although a few experiments were made with it by Fayrer(2) many years ago, and also I believe by D. D. Cunningham, who, I am informed, found it to closely resemble Cobra venom.

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