arterial side of this obstruction the crowded corpuscles force their way through the porous cement substance by what little "vis a tergo" there may be left yet, whilst in the venous side, in the small veins corresponding with the closed capillaries, engorgement must necessarily take place through this "vis a tergo" being entirely absent, and diapedesis, which here also has been observed, follow in due course. The writer has always been inclined to take this view, the correctness of which appears to be borne out by an experiment recorded by Feoktistow. He found on sprinkling a two per cent. solution of snake-poison over the mesentery of an healthy animal, that wherever a drop of the solution fell, almost immediately the capillaries and small veins became dilated and small point-like effusions of blood appeared, gradually enlarging and ultimately becoming confluent with adjoining ones. Large hæmorrhagic surfaces were thus formed in a comparatively short time. Here paralysis of the nerve-cells interspersed in the vaso-motor nerve-ends was evidently the first effect, followed by dilatation of the capillaries and immediately afterwards by effusion. Without some obstruction within the capillaries, like that above described, effusion in this purely local poisoning process appears unexplainable. The special preference which the viper-poison has for the vaso-motor sphere will hereafter be referred to. Hæmorrhages from Australian snake-poison are comparatively rare. Even at the bitten place there is as a rule very little swelling and effusion and frequently none at all. When it occurs it quickly disappears after strychnine injections. Only a few cases have been reported as yet of blood-vomiting. In one of these the hæmorrhage took place soon after the bite and was so considerable that it must have arisen from actual rupture of vessels consequent on abdominal engorgement and not from mere diapedesis. It is very doubtful whether the latter ever takes place here as it does after viper-bite in India and elsewhere. Even the death-adder, although half a viper, and producing more swelling and effusion locally than any other one of our snakes, is not known to have ever produced the extensive effusions from mucous surfaces in pericardium, lungs, &c., described above. More research however is necessary, especially more carefully conducted autopsies. Since Australia has taken the lead in this hitherto so obscure department, every practitioner should make it his object and special ambition to contribute his quota towards the elucidation of the subject, not only by reporting successful cases, but also the post-mortem appearances in unsuccessful ones, wherever it is practicable. It is not by experiments on animals but by a hearty co-operation of Australian practitioners that we can ever hope to supplement our knowledge on this subject. b.--The Respiratory Centre.