I. On the action of cobra venom.—Parts I and II

Abstract

The work of Fayrer(1), and afterwards of Brunton and Fayrer(2), established the fact that in cobra poisoning the failure of the respiration is the cause of death, the circulation surviving for some time after the breathing ceases, and the heart continuing to beat for hours if the aëration of the blood is maintained by artificial respiration. They satisfied themselves that a curara-like paralysis of the motor nerve ends occurs in certain conditions, but they remained in doubt whether the failure of the respiration is entirely due to this, and were inclined to believe that it is due in part to paralysis of the respiratory centre; the phrenic nerve proved insensible to the strongest stimuli in some experiments, while the sciatic remained irritable, and there was a want of co-ordination of the diaphragmatic and thoracic muscles in others, which appeared to arise from paralysis of the phrenic nerve. In 1883 A. J. Wall (3) concluded that, while the peripheral motor nerves are weakened, this is accompanied by a similar weakening of the central nervous system, and especially of the spinal cord.