Elaps corallinus:coral snakes are characterized by short fangs fixed in the front of the upper jaw.
- VERMEULEN Frans
Elaps
I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
[Albert Einstein]
Signs
Elaps corallinus. Micrurus corallinus. Brazilian coral snake.
CLASSIFICATION The Elapidae, or Cobra family, comprises about 200 species. The family includes cobras, kraits, mambas, coral snakes, and sea snakes. The genus Micrurus is confined to the New World, where it occurs from the south-eastern United States through Mexico, Central America, and most of South America to central Argentina. Similar forms occur in Asia and Africa. Mexico has most coral snake species: about 30. The most important species in the United States are Micrurus fulvius fulvius [the Eastern coral snake] and Micrurus fulvius tenere [the Texas coral snake].
VENOM Elapids strike with a downward stab, followed by chewing. Unlike the pit vipers, which strike quickly, coral snakes must hang on for some brief period of time in order to achieve a significant envenomation in humans. The fangs are hollow, and venom can be forced through the central canal. The venom is primarily neurotoxic but often contains substances that damage the body tissues or blood cells. The bite is relatively painless, but death from paralysis of the heart and lungs may be swift.
Bites by coral snakes are uncommon [less than 1% of venomous snakebites]. The majority of bites occur in spring or fall. "Coral snake venoms tend to have significant neurotoxicity, inducing neuromuscular blockage. They have little in the way of enzymatic activity or necrotic potential compared to most vipers and pit vipers. These venoms tend to be some of the most potent found in snakes, yet the yield per animal is less than with many vipers or pit vipers. Due to their relatively primitive venom delivery apparatus, lack of envenomation may occur in as many as 60% of victims of North American coral snake bite. There has not been a death in the U.S. since coral snake antivenom became available. Before that time, the estimated case fatality rate was 10% and the cause of death was respiratory or cardiovascular failure. Patients who survive the bite may require respiratory support for up to a week and may suffer persistent weakness for weeks to months."1
FEATURES 'True' coral snakes are characterized by short fangs fixed in the front of the upper jaw. Most of the more than 50 species are ringed with red, black, and yellow or white. The most common colour pattern is represented by body rings in a red-yellow-red sequence. Most species lay eggs. They occur in a variety of habitats, ranging from desert to cloud forest. Elapids tend to be slender and agile. They are secretive and docile, and rarely bite when handled. Most are small and inoffensive to humans. Coral snakes prey on other snakes and lizards, and, less often, on young birds, frogs and insects. They are predominantly nocturnal in behaviour, but sometimes are active at dusk and dawn or appear after rains or on overcast days. 'False' coral snakes have nearly identical colour patterns as 'true' coral snakes, but they are mostly non-poisonous or mildly poisonous and have their fangs in the back of their mouth.
DEFENCE Coral snakes experience relative low predation. Their black, red, and yellow pattern blends with their natural [terrestrial] surroundings, making it difficult for potential predators, mainly birds, to spot them or to designate their exact location. In addition, their bright colours will warn away predators in case they do get detected. When threatened, coral snakes usually curl their tails into a tight spiral and hold them upright; this behaviour is thought to attract predators to the tail rather than to the more vulnerable head.
TIME CONFUSION The interval at which separate images blend is known as flicker-fusion frequency. A fly, for example, has a flicker-fusion frequency of 400 and sees intervals of time between eight and twenty times shorter than we can. "Several snakes have discovered the advantages of outwitting the flicker-fusion frequency of their prey. Coral snakes in South America and the bandy-bandy in Australia both have highly coloured rings around their bodies. In the past these were thought to act as warning colours, informing potential predators that the snakes were poisonous. However, as many hunters, such as laughing falcons and caracaras, successfully prey on other poisonous snakes, the real reason appears more complex. As soon as the snake moves, animals with a low flicker-fusion rate, such as mammals, no longer see the concentric rings. The bands merge creating a brown blur that camouflages the snake against its background. The bold stripes become startingly visible again as soon as the snake stops. The sudden change from camouflage to shock tactics seems to confuse attackers and allows a chance to escape. Predators with a higher flicker-fusion rate, such as birds, experience a different optical illusion. Although they see the moving bands clearly, they may appear to travel backwards. A similar effects is sometimes seen in old westerns, when the film speed conflicts with the speed of rotation of a wagon wheel and creates strobing. This disconcerting apparent reversal of movement causes a predator to dive at the wrong end of the snake, allowing it to slink away unharmed."2
ELAPS Mure describes this coral snake thus: "The Elaps corallinus is found quite frequently in the woods all along the coast of Brazil, and its bite is much dreaded. Its colours are more brilliant and more agreeably combined than those of any other serpent in Brazil. Its head is small, covered with polygonal scales; it swells behind and is continuous with the neck from which it is scarcely distinguished as regards size. It has round and small eyes; the jaws which are little dilatable, are furnished with sharp teeth accompanied by fangs that rest on the venomous glands. The body is about two feet and a half in length; it is round, rather big in proportion to the head, and terminates in a sharp tail. The upper part is covered with smooth rhomboidal scales; the belly is covered with two hundred transverse shields; the tail numbers fifty shields, which are disposed in two parallel rows. Its colours are disposed in the shape of rings of a vermilion-red, alternating with black rings, each two rings being separated by circular lines of a greenish white. The upper part of the head is black; likewise the first coloured ring of the neck; the shields of the jaw are white, and are separated from each other by black lines."3
TOXICOLOGY The onset of symptoms may be delayed for many hours [up to 10-12 hours]. Physical symptoms include local paraesthesias [may be painful], soft tissue swelling, respiratory distress or impending respiratory failure, spasm of pharynx, difficulty swallowing, profuse salivation, cyanosis, trismus, strabismus, diplopia, ptosis, generalized weakness, cardiovascular collapse, hypotension, tachycardia.
SNAKE MOVEMENT "In its general form this animal is only a rib-creature. Up to 400 vertebrae with corresponding ribs build up such a snake skeleton, and even the head and tail are structurally metamorphoses of this tendency. The lower jaws are not joined together as in other animals; they are just two ribs serving a different function. All the bones forming the pharynx are moveable against each other. The head, which in all other vertebrates is the pole of solid immobility, has become a limb-organization in a similar way as even the hundreds of pairs of ribs of the trunk have turned into concealed inner limbs. And although the snakes creep, they have not lost the faculty of walking: it has turned inward. The movements are always reciprocal left-right movements of the muscles of the ribs. This not only gives rise to the characteristic winding mode of propulsion [called 'schlängeln' in German, which in translation means 'snaking'], but the process of swallowing and devouring is in fact nothing else but a walking right-left-right over the victim. With its disjointed mandibles and maxillary bones, the snake can hold its prey with the teeth of one side, while the other side grips anew, and so in small steps 'walk' the food into the intestinal region where the strong juices are working. The snakes do not chew: they swallow, by steadily walking over their prey. Here we are already coming close to one of the significant characteristics of the snakes: their peculiar relationship to left- and right-sidedness. On the whole, only sideways movements are possible; movement in dorsal or ventral direction is rather limited. The peculiar relation to sidedness becomes still more obvious if one studies the internal organs."4
INTERNAL ORGANS "The main organs are the oesophagus, a long wide stomach, a very substantial small and large intestine, and huge kidneys. All the other organs have to squeeze themselves into the remaining space. The heart is fourfold, but the septum is not fully established. Two arches form the aorta, and there are many intercommunications between the venous and arterial bloodstreams. The lymphatic system is very strongly developed; it has a few collecting centres which usually lie in the region of the stomach, and in addition two or four so-called lymphatic hearts which pulsate rhythmically. The lung is only fully developed on one side. In the grass-snakes the left lung is still developed to half the size of the right one; in the other snakes the left lung is either completely underdeveloped or even obliterated. The two kidneys are rather elongated organs which are connected with a special venous blood system, similar to the vena porta system in mammals."5
GLANDS "The glandular system is greatly developed; everything is orientated around the digestive process. Next to the very large pancreas and other abdominal glands we find the glands situated in the head region which are mostly of the type of salivary glands. Parotid, submaxillary, and mandibular glands also provide poisonous secretions, whereas the actual poison lies in the maxilla in front of the parotid, or in the upper lip. These glands are usually in some way or other connected with the teeth, which work either as hypodermic injection needles, or prepare a wound into which the venom is smeared."6
SENSES "The tongue is the main organ for the sense of touch. In rapid succession the double-pointed tongue, with its slightly horny tips, is ejected from its vagina, often through a tiny aperture in the lower lip, and it is said that the snakes easily perceive with their tongue what is around them to a distance of up to one yard, and thus find their way. Everything has to be touched by the tongue before it is dealt with, or is spit at from a distance of one yard. One may of course ask oneself if this touching replaces tasting, and the question is justified whether snakes have at all developed taste. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand how snakes can be gnawed at by rats and hardly notice it, or if they do notice will not hinder the rats and die from loss of blood. It seems as though in the realm of the tongue the taste-experience has been amalgamated with the touch experience. This touch-taste function appears to be combined with a good faculty of smell. Similar difficulties are encountered when we turn to the sense-activities of hearing and seeing. The hearing-organization is amazingly primitive. No external opening gives access to the meatus externus, which is short. There is no drum, no middle ear, nor Eustachian tube. But the spiral is formed out in a way similar to that of the birds. It is doubted whether snakes can really hear. Considering the disappearance of the limbs, and the transformation of the movement into digestive movement only, it seems likely that they cannot hear. But there is no doubt that sight is well developed in the snakes, though it is not as good as in other reptiles. The interesting fact is that the eye is formed in the same way as the eyes of higher animals, but the lids are grown together. The outer skin covers the cornea, and the space between the cornea and the transparent upper layer of skin is filled with lachrymal fluid. Each eye can look independently to its side. It has been observed that the snake has difficulties in perceiving objects sharply, but perceives exactly all the movements of the objects concerned. That would explain why snakes have to wait so often, when the victim remains motionless during the attack, and try by hissing or rattling to induce the victim to move, to make further attack possible. The sense of smell seems to be good. The nose is developed and equipped with erectile bodies acting in a similar way to those of the genital organs."7
METAMORPHOSIS "In considering all these facts it becomes clear that actually only the lower senses are developed as sensory functions, although higher sensory organs may be used for it. That means, for instance, that in the eyes sight is rather diminished, but the perception of movement through the sense of movement in the eye is highly developed. Hearing is reduced to the perception of the vibrations, i.e. , touch. There is a well-developed sense of equilibrium, which has also taken over the perception of warmth and cold. The sense of life, which is predominantly developed as a sense for well-being or unwell-being, hunger and thirst, etc., is strong enough to wipe out the actual taste functions, which are taken over by the sense of touch, yet using the sensory organ of the tongue. The sense of touch is strengthened by its higher metamorphosis, the sense of smell. There are two more interesting facts to be described. The phallus of the male snake is two-pointed like the tongue, and horny at the ends. A functional similarity and metamorphosis becomes evident. Of great importance is the following detail: active digestion is directed towards one end, namely the production of uric acid. It is of interest that among all the vertebrate animals only the birds produce uric acid too, whereas all other vertebrates produce urea. In this fact we can again find a sign for the relationship between the birds on the one hand and the snakes on the other."8
SKIN "For as long as eight days she may sun herself before the skin near the base of the neck splits, and she comes forth resurrected in brilliant colours. Twisted among briars and the grass haulms of last autumn lies the discarded skin: a perfect sheath, the scales that covered the eyes are in place. The thin, transparent opalescent scales seem hooked lightly together. This yearly shedding of the outer skin is a mystery no man is likely to believe. W.H. Hudon, a careful and accurate observer, tells how a skin that has been taken from a snake, treated with antiseptics, and mounted on a cloth, will continue - year after year - to give off layers of thin scales, demonstrating a kind of detached life of its own, independent from the body. These attempts at skin-casting occur in springtime for many years after the death of the animal. Other observers confirm how skins slough off from the scale-plates as a transparent scurf for many years, thus evidencing a deep life-memory. What kind of activity is this that persists in a mere portion? What essential survives the drying in the sun and the treatment with arsenical soap? From where can it obtain nourishment and gain the impulse which can divest itself of a sequent series of skins, repeating the rhythm of the complete organism in a mere fragment? None of these questions have been answered. What can we make of memories that may live on, shadow-existences, like the detached skin of a snake?"9
THE SERPENT "That rivulet of bronze and silver that throws itself on the earth with its flanged scales has been reverenced, worshipped and execrated by all peoples at all times. If the worm affords, by its burrowing, the foundation of the soil, the serpent in its fascination claims the title of the worm that circles the universe. In the thoughts of men the serpent has become the Burning One and the Growing One, symbol of sexuality, coiled about the tree of Good and Evil, both tempter and naysayer. With him is associated wisdom and intelligence, yet he remains the snake, hidden and secretive, often with poison fangs. ... Snakes live in dark holes, are cold-blooded; they are thought of as denizens of the underworld, associated with the shades of death. The Moon goddess carries snakes in her hands, or wears snakes in her hair. Hecate and Medusa are part snake in form; Ishtar, in her dark period, is covered with scales like a snake. The serpent as worshipped in the temples of Vesta and Selene, and was fed at times by naked virgins. In the Eleusinian Mysteries the Earth goddess was fertilized by a serpent, and in many lands women are believed to copulate with snakes, become pregnant and bear snake-children. The bite of a snake gives rise to a girl's menstruation, and girls of the Australian Aborigines avoid places where snakes are likely to inhabit, for they fear pregnancy. Dreams bear witness to the surviving power of the serpent in the underdepths of the soul. Myths are survivals of the dreams of departed peoples. Gilgamesh lost the herb of immortality, snatched from him by a snake in the underworld of the dead. ... In Genesis the serpent is shown in unfallen glory, the wisest of all beasts of the field, so subtle he could change the purpose of the Lord God himself, debasing the original antinomies to crude opposition of good and evil; thus he establishes morality in the fall from glory. As living spirit he pervades nature, never quite forgetting his one-time splendour, reflected in illusions. Among primitives he is the incarnation of the elfin impulse; his twin brother is Man, to whom he gives the art of agriculture and fire-making. In ancient Egypt the word goddess was written with the hieroglyph of the serpent. In Greece and Phoenicia, in Babylonia and India, the serpent twined round the creative function. In the innermost shrines of temples the mysteries of reproduction were revealed, telling how snake and egg met in the womb. Thus also was the universe engendered. The great Serpent and the fire-mist together became the glyph of the Logos: the snake athwart the circle of fire-mist. Thus he created Man, himself as Man's shadow; and must again enter into the unity. The caduceus of Mercury reveals the twin serpents, rising from earth towards heaven. ... To turn rod to serpents, sense-existence to higher achievement was not beyond the spell of sorcerers. Aaron's rod in swallowing the others marks a greater power. Thus the snake insinuates his lithe, ambiguous form into the imaginations of men, achieving the apoglyph of life. He is ever ambiguous. ... The spiritual serpent is identified with Christ, as with Hermes, as with all redeemers and saviours."10
PROVINGS •• [1] Mure - 2 provers [1 male, 1 female]; method: 3rd trit., manner not stated.
•• [2] Lippe - 1 [female] prover, 1854; method: single dose of 4th dil.
"The symptoms which I have collected, are not a great many, but they can be depended upon. Most of the symptoms were experienced by several provers, and some of them have already been confirmed by treatment, among which may be mentioned the oppression in going up-stairs, the vesicular eruption on the feet and the deafness. This last symptom is of great importance on account of its being so obstinate. For pulmonary affections the poison of the cobra-coral may likewise prove a valuable remedy, especially for the second stage of phthisis, characterised by bloody cough and derangement of the digestive functions. It may likewise be serviceable in mental alienation and cutaneous eruptions. The special action which the poison seems to exercise on the right side, the paralysis, the lancinations, have appeared to me worthy of attention. The gyratory motions, desire to move to and fro, the scaling off of the epidermis and several symptoms relating to the disposition and the mind, seem to deserve the attention of the philosophical physician."11
[1] Norris, Coral Snake Envenomations; [website]. [2] Downer, Supernatural. [3] Mure, Provings of the principal Animal and Vegetable Poisons of the Brazilian Empire. [4-8] Engel, Snakes - an essay in interpretation; BHJ, July 1959. [9-10] Grant Watson, Animals in Splendour and Decline, The Serpent; BHJ, January 1966. [11] Mure, ibid.
Affinity
Blood. Nose. Ears. Throat. * Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Cold; cold drinks, cold food. Dampness. Night. In room.
Better: Walking [> epistaxis, pain in stomach and lungs]. Lying on abdomen [> pain in stomach].
Main symptoms
c Common themes of snake remedies [after Jayesh Shah]:
* Demand attention.
* Must be attractive.
* Love of colours, music.
* Clairvoyance.
* Strong fear and dreams of snakes.
* Marked PMS.
* Strong fear of water, of drowning.
* Dreams about dead people.
M Desire for solitude.
Aversion to company, avoids the sight of people.
Wants to get into the country away from people.
• "For days she remains in the corner of the anti-chamber."
• "She retires to a distant room to work."
• "Desire to be in a deep cavern, where nobody can see her."
• "She wants to leave the house at the moment when she is going to bed."
• "Plans of travelling, etc."
• "Desire for country-air and sport." [Mure]
M Dread of being alone, out of fear.
Fear that something horrible will happen.
Fear of rain [connected to sinusitis]; fear of apoplexy; fear of robbers; fear of snakes.
• "According to Shah the main theme of Elaps is the dread of being alone and when alone fears that is going to happen. A feeling of threat as if he is going to be beaten up, feeling as if ruffians are going to break in, which explains the desire for company. Some very important features of Elaps are the amelioration while travelling by car [Naja], playing in the grass and the dreams of being raped, attacked [Cenchris, Sepia]."1
M Auditory hallucinations.
• "Strange illusion of hearing; she heard whistling and ringing, and rises to see where it is." • "She hears distinct whistling." [Mure]
M Colours.
• "The facts that other non-venomous snakes imitate coral snakes - but their bands are slightly different - and that coral snakes are the most beautiful and highly coloured snakes made me think about fashion clothing [beauty + imitation = fashion]. I have one patient I first saw 15 years ago and has had many remedies. She has done well on Elaps since I understood the remedy in this way. She is a person who is very fashion conscious and would spend a lot of money on clothes. Coral snakes are mainly red, black and white/yellow in coloration and I have had patients who wore a lot of red and black do well on Elaps too."2
• "On closing the eyes, everything looks red, dotted with black points." [Mure]
M Falling.
• "I find that the [Elaps] patients have a fear of falling down, losing their image in society. They like to maintain a very good image and value the good opinion of others. One has to differentiate this remedy from Palladium and sometimes from Platinum. Their talk is quite animated and egoistic. They are loquacious and have a tendency to put others down, but not in an egoistic way. They often come from respected families and are multi-talented in the areas of leadership, appearance, cooking, etc." [Sankaran]
• "I was the best of 500 students at school. I love competition, I put everything I had into my studies, always on the top, I escalated, I think high. Later on I went down in my studies, because relationships became more important, so I put everything I had into relationships. I want them to be perfect. When this friend destroyed our solidarity, I fell into the black abyss."3
G Black.
• "Elaps is distinguished from the other serpent venoms by the pre-eminent blackness of its discharges and haemorrhages."
Mostly used in uterine complaints, menstrual problems, haemorrhages, esp. when markedly < from exertion; copious flow from just walking around. G Chilliness. Cold feeling in bones. Cold feeling in single parts. • "On the least contrariety the body shudders and the blood boils, with pricklings." [Mure] Yet desire for open air. G Marked craving for SALADS, ORANGES, ice, milk, buttermilk, whipped cream. • "I have usually identified Elaps by its very strong physical cravings/concomitants, for example the desire for bananas [my observation], oranges, salad, sweetened buttermilk [in India, a yoghurt drink called 'Lassi'], ice, sweet, sour, milk. Its other symptom which I have repeatedly confirmed is the burning pain in oesophagus and stomach, commonly described by the patient as 'acidity' which is ameliorated by cold drinks - the cold drink can be felt descending from oesophagus down to the stomach, where it feels quite cold." [Sankaran] G THIRST. Must drink in order to swallow. G Right side stronger affected. • "Right side feels paralyzed, weak or insensible." [Boger] G > LYING on ABDOMEN.
P Dim vision.
• "Greyish gauze before the eyes, like a cloud, which becomes thicker; at first it is of the size of a penny and spreads until finally it covers the whole field of vision." [Mure]
P Catarrh.
• "E.V. Moffat has found Elaps 6 almost a specific in chronic naso-pharyngeal catarrh, with greenish crusts and subjective disagreeable odour." [Clarke]
P Spasms of oesophagus.
Gurgling when drinking.
• "The food descends in the oesophagus as if turned round like a screw. At other time the soup falls heavily and precipitately, as if through a metallic tube into the stomach, which trembles violently." [Mure]
P Cold drinks feel like ice in stomach.
P Pain in stomach > lying on abdomen.
P Desquamating eruptions on tips of fingers.
P Stagnation.
• "The blood remains congested in the hand, which is of a violet colour and as if paralysed; it has to be kept erect in order to prevent the congestion." [Mure]
[compare Vipera].
[1] seminar report Jayesh Shah, Case 1; HL 3/94. [2] Michael Thompson, Snakes; [unpublished manuscript]. [3] Serban, The up and down snake: A case of Elaps corallinus; HL 2/98.
Rubrics
Mind
Anger, when spoken to [2]. Biting, fingers during sleep [1/1]. Aversion to company, wants to get into the country away from people [1]; yet fear of being alone [1]; desire for company due to feeling as if something terrible might happen [2/1]. Desire for countryside [1]. Delusions, is being injured [1], rowdies will break in if she was alone [1/1], he hears talking [1/1], of hearing voices [2], she hears whistling [1*]. Desire to be in a cavern [1/1]. Fear, of rain [2], of robbers [1], of snakes [2], of solitude [1]. Irritability, with himself [2]. Desire to play in the grass [1/1]. Sadness, during wet weather [2]. Feels as though she must shriek [2]. Desire to strike [1]. Taciturn, during menses [1]. Desire for travelling [1].
Head
Pain, from fasting, if hunger is not appeased at once [1].
Vision
Colours, black disk [1/1], black spots when eyes are closed [1; Con.]; red, at night [1], red on closing eyes [1/1], fiery red spots [1]. Objects seem to be moving to and fro, towards noon [1/1].
Ear
Noises, buzzing, as from a fly in ear [1*].
Nose
Discharges, smelling like fish-brine [1], offensive, like herring pickle [2/1]. Obstruction, right side, > lying on right side [1*]; in wet weather [1]. Odours, imaginary, of fish-brine [1].
Throat
Food falls straight down as if through a metallic tube [1*], turns like a corkscrew through oesophagus on swallowing [1/1]. Sensation of a lump, oesophagus, after eating [1]. Spasm, oesophagus, when swallowing liquids [1]. Must drink in order to swallow [1].
Stomach
Coldness, after cold drinks [3], after fruit [1].
Abdomen
Constriction, as by a string, intestines [1]. Peristalsis, reversed [1].
Bladder
Tenesmus, with icy cold feet [2/1].
Female
Menses, black [1], copious [1], irregular, between periods [2].
Chest
Coldness, as if ice water were rising and descending through a cylindrical tube [1/1]. Pain, tearing, as if lungs were forced apart [1*].
Back
Pain, pressing, cervical region, as if cerebellum had settled downwards [1*]. Pulsating, cervical region, like ticking of a clock [1*].
Limbs
Sensation of paralysis, hands [1]. Swelling, left foot [2].
Dreams
Dead bodies [1]. Falling into an abyss [1]. Journeys [1].
Generals
Desire for open air [2].
* Repertory additions [Mure].
Food
Aversion: [2]: Meat. [1]: Bananas; bread; cold drinks; milk; oranges; plums; sour; water.
Desire: [2]: Ice; milk; sweets; [whipped] cream. [1]: Buttermilk; oranges; salads; sour.
Worse: [2]: Cold drinks. [1]: Bread; fruit.
Elaps
 |
| Elaps corallinus |
[Albert Einstein]
Signs
Elaps corallinus. Micrurus corallinus. Brazilian coral snake.
CLASSIFICATION The Elapidae, or Cobra family, comprises about 200 species. The family includes cobras, kraits, mambas, coral snakes, and sea snakes. The genus Micrurus is confined to the New World, where it occurs from the south-eastern United States through Mexico, Central America, and most of South America to central Argentina. Similar forms occur in Asia and Africa. Mexico has most coral snake species: about 30. The most important species in the United States are Micrurus fulvius fulvius [the Eastern coral snake] and Micrurus fulvius tenere [the Texas coral snake].
VENOM Elapids strike with a downward stab, followed by chewing. Unlike the pit vipers, which strike quickly, coral snakes must hang on for some brief period of time in order to achieve a significant envenomation in humans. The fangs are hollow, and venom can be forced through the central canal. The venom is primarily neurotoxic but often contains substances that damage the body tissues or blood cells. The bite is relatively painless, but death from paralysis of the heart and lungs may be swift.
Bites by coral snakes are uncommon [less than 1% of venomous snakebites]. The majority of bites occur in spring or fall. "Coral snake venoms tend to have significant neurotoxicity, inducing neuromuscular blockage. They have little in the way of enzymatic activity or necrotic potential compared to most vipers and pit vipers. These venoms tend to be some of the most potent found in snakes, yet the yield per animal is less than with many vipers or pit vipers. Due to their relatively primitive venom delivery apparatus, lack of envenomation may occur in as many as 60% of victims of North American coral snake bite. There has not been a death in the U.S. since coral snake antivenom became available. Before that time, the estimated case fatality rate was 10% and the cause of death was respiratory or cardiovascular failure. Patients who survive the bite may require respiratory support for up to a week and may suffer persistent weakness for weeks to months."1
FEATURES 'True' coral snakes are characterized by short fangs fixed in the front of the upper jaw. Most of the more than 50 species are ringed with red, black, and yellow or white. The most common colour pattern is represented by body rings in a red-yellow-red sequence. Most species lay eggs. They occur in a variety of habitats, ranging from desert to cloud forest. Elapids tend to be slender and agile. They are secretive and docile, and rarely bite when handled. Most are small and inoffensive to humans. Coral snakes prey on other snakes and lizards, and, less often, on young birds, frogs and insects. They are predominantly nocturnal in behaviour, but sometimes are active at dusk and dawn or appear after rains or on overcast days. 'False' coral snakes have nearly identical colour patterns as 'true' coral snakes, but they are mostly non-poisonous or mildly poisonous and have their fangs in the back of their mouth.
 |
| Elaps corallinus |
TIME CONFUSION The interval at which separate images blend is known as flicker-fusion frequency. A fly, for example, has a flicker-fusion frequency of 400 and sees intervals of time between eight and twenty times shorter than we can. "Several snakes have discovered the advantages of outwitting the flicker-fusion frequency of their prey. Coral snakes in South America and the bandy-bandy in Australia both have highly coloured rings around their bodies. In the past these were thought to act as warning colours, informing potential predators that the snakes were poisonous. However, as many hunters, such as laughing falcons and caracaras, successfully prey on other poisonous snakes, the real reason appears more complex. As soon as the snake moves, animals with a low flicker-fusion rate, such as mammals, no longer see the concentric rings. The bands merge creating a brown blur that camouflages the snake against its background. The bold stripes become startingly visible again as soon as the snake stops. The sudden change from camouflage to shock tactics seems to confuse attackers and allows a chance to escape. Predators with a higher flicker-fusion rate, such as birds, experience a different optical illusion. Although they see the moving bands clearly, they may appear to travel backwards. A similar effects is sometimes seen in old westerns, when the film speed conflicts with the speed of rotation of a wagon wheel and creates strobing. This disconcerting apparent reversal of movement causes a predator to dive at the wrong end of the snake, allowing it to slink away unharmed."2
ELAPS Mure describes this coral snake thus: "The Elaps corallinus is found quite frequently in the woods all along the coast of Brazil, and its bite is much dreaded. Its colours are more brilliant and more agreeably combined than those of any other serpent in Brazil. Its head is small, covered with polygonal scales; it swells behind and is continuous with the neck from which it is scarcely distinguished as regards size. It has round and small eyes; the jaws which are little dilatable, are furnished with sharp teeth accompanied by fangs that rest on the venomous glands. The body is about two feet and a half in length; it is round, rather big in proportion to the head, and terminates in a sharp tail. The upper part is covered with smooth rhomboidal scales; the belly is covered with two hundred transverse shields; the tail numbers fifty shields, which are disposed in two parallel rows. Its colours are disposed in the shape of rings of a vermilion-red, alternating with black rings, each two rings being separated by circular lines of a greenish white. The upper part of the head is black; likewise the first coloured ring of the neck; the shields of the jaw are white, and are separated from each other by black lines."3
TOXICOLOGY The onset of symptoms may be delayed for many hours [up to 10-12 hours]. Physical symptoms include local paraesthesias [may be painful], soft tissue swelling, respiratory distress or impending respiratory failure, spasm of pharynx, difficulty swallowing, profuse salivation, cyanosis, trismus, strabismus, diplopia, ptosis, generalized weakness, cardiovascular collapse, hypotension, tachycardia.
SNAKE MOVEMENT "In its general form this animal is only a rib-creature. Up to 400 vertebrae with corresponding ribs build up such a snake skeleton, and even the head and tail are structurally metamorphoses of this tendency. The lower jaws are not joined together as in other animals; they are just two ribs serving a different function. All the bones forming the pharynx are moveable against each other. The head, which in all other vertebrates is the pole of solid immobility, has become a limb-organization in a similar way as even the hundreds of pairs of ribs of the trunk have turned into concealed inner limbs. And although the snakes creep, they have not lost the faculty of walking: it has turned inward. The movements are always reciprocal left-right movements of the muscles of the ribs. This not only gives rise to the characteristic winding mode of propulsion [called 'schlängeln' in German, which in translation means 'snaking'], but the process of swallowing and devouring is in fact nothing else but a walking right-left-right over the victim. With its disjointed mandibles and maxillary bones, the snake can hold its prey with the teeth of one side, while the other side grips anew, and so in small steps 'walk' the food into the intestinal region where the strong juices are working. The snakes do not chew: they swallow, by steadily walking over their prey. Here we are already coming close to one of the significant characteristics of the snakes: their peculiar relationship to left- and right-sidedness. On the whole, only sideways movements are possible; movement in dorsal or ventral direction is rather limited. The peculiar relation to sidedness becomes still more obvious if one studies the internal organs."4
INTERNAL ORGANS "The main organs are the oesophagus, a long wide stomach, a very substantial small and large intestine, and huge kidneys. All the other organs have to squeeze themselves into the remaining space. The heart is fourfold, but the septum is not fully established. Two arches form the aorta, and there are many intercommunications between the venous and arterial bloodstreams. The lymphatic system is very strongly developed; it has a few collecting centres which usually lie in the region of the stomach, and in addition two or four so-called lymphatic hearts which pulsate rhythmically. The lung is only fully developed on one side. In the grass-snakes the left lung is still developed to half the size of the right one; in the other snakes the left lung is either completely underdeveloped or even obliterated. The two kidneys are rather elongated organs which are connected with a special venous blood system, similar to the vena porta system in mammals."5
GLANDS "The glandular system is greatly developed; everything is orientated around the digestive process. Next to the very large pancreas and other abdominal glands we find the glands situated in the head region which are mostly of the type of salivary glands. Parotid, submaxillary, and mandibular glands also provide poisonous secretions, whereas the actual poison lies in the maxilla in front of the parotid, or in the upper lip. These glands are usually in some way or other connected with the teeth, which work either as hypodermic injection needles, or prepare a wound into which the venom is smeared."6
SENSES "The tongue is the main organ for the sense of touch. In rapid succession the double-pointed tongue, with its slightly horny tips, is ejected from its vagina, often through a tiny aperture in the lower lip, and it is said that the snakes easily perceive with their tongue what is around them to a distance of up to one yard, and thus find their way. Everything has to be touched by the tongue before it is dealt with, or is spit at from a distance of one yard. One may of course ask oneself if this touching replaces tasting, and the question is justified whether snakes have at all developed taste. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand how snakes can be gnawed at by rats and hardly notice it, or if they do notice will not hinder the rats and die from loss of blood. It seems as though in the realm of the tongue the taste-experience has been amalgamated with the touch experience. This touch-taste function appears to be combined with a good faculty of smell. Similar difficulties are encountered when we turn to the sense-activities of hearing and seeing. The hearing-organization is amazingly primitive. No external opening gives access to the meatus externus, which is short. There is no drum, no middle ear, nor Eustachian tube. But the spiral is formed out in a way similar to that of the birds. It is doubted whether snakes can really hear. Considering the disappearance of the limbs, and the transformation of the movement into digestive movement only, it seems likely that they cannot hear. But there is no doubt that sight is well developed in the snakes, though it is not as good as in other reptiles. The interesting fact is that the eye is formed in the same way as the eyes of higher animals, but the lids are grown together. The outer skin covers the cornea, and the space between the cornea and the transparent upper layer of skin is filled with lachrymal fluid. Each eye can look independently to its side. It has been observed that the snake has difficulties in perceiving objects sharply, but perceives exactly all the movements of the objects concerned. That would explain why snakes have to wait so often, when the victim remains motionless during the attack, and try by hissing or rattling to induce the victim to move, to make further attack possible. The sense of smell seems to be good. The nose is developed and equipped with erectile bodies acting in a similar way to those of the genital organs."7
METAMORPHOSIS "In considering all these facts it becomes clear that actually only the lower senses are developed as sensory functions, although higher sensory organs may be used for it. That means, for instance, that in the eyes sight is rather diminished, but the perception of movement through the sense of movement in the eye is highly developed. Hearing is reduced to the perception of the vibrations, i.e. , touch. There is a well-developed sense of equilibrium, which has also taken over the perception of warmth and cold. The sense of life, which is predominantly developed as a sense for well-being or unwell-being, hunger and thirst, etc., is strong enough to wipe out the actual taste functions, which are taken over by the sense of touch, yet using the sensory organ of the tongue. The sense of touch is strengthened by its higher metamorphosis, the sense of smell. There are two more interesting facts to be described. The phallus of the male snake is two-pointed like the tongue, and horny at the ends. A functional similarity and metamorphosis becomes evident. Of great importance is the following detail: active digestion is directed towards one end, namely the production of uric acid. It is of interest that among all the vertebrate animals only the birds produce uric acid too, whereas all other vertebrates produce urea. In this fact we can again find a sign for the relationship between the birds on the one hand and the snakes on the other."8
SKIN "For as long as eight days she may sun herself before the skin near the base of the neck splits, and she comes forth resurrected in brilliant colours. Twisted among briars and the grass haulms of last autumn lies the discarded skin: a perfect sheath, the scales that covered the eyes are in place. The thin, transparent opalescent scales seem hooked lightly together. This yearly shedding of the outer skin is a mystery no man is likely to believe. W.H. Hudon, a careful and accurate observer, tells how a skin that has been taken from a snake, treated with antiseptics, and mounted on a cloth, will continue - year after year - to give off layers of thin scales, demonstrating a kind of detached life of its own, independent from the body. These attempts at skin-casting occur in springtime for many years after the death of the animal. Other observers confirm how skins slough off from the scale-plates as a transparent scurf for many years, thus evidencing a deep life-memory. What kind of activity is this that persists in a mere portion? What essential survives the drying in the sun and the treatment with arsenical soap? From where can it obtain nourishment and gain the impulse which can divest itself of a sequent series of skins, repeating the rhythm of the complete organism in a mere fragment? None of these questions have been answered. What can we make of memories that may live on, shadow-existences, like the detached skin of a snake?"9
THE SERPENT "That rivulet of bronze and silver that throws itself on the earth with its flanged scales has been reverenced, worshipped and execrated by all peoples at all times. If the worm affords, by its burrowing, the foundation of the soil, the serpent in its fascination claims the title of the worm that circles the universe. In the thoughts of men the serpent has become the Burning One and the Growing One, symbol of sexuality, coiled about the tree of Good and Evil, both tempter and naysayer. With him is associated wisdom and intelligence, yet he remains the snake, hidden and secretive, often with poison fangs. ... Snakes live in dark holes, are cold-blooded; they are thought of as denizens of the underworld, associated with the shades of death. The Moon goddess carries snakes in her hands, or wears snakes in her hair. Hecate and Medusa are part snake in form; Ishtar, in her dark period, is covered with scales like a snake. The serpent as worshipped in the temples of Vesta and Selene, and was fed at times by naked virgins. In the Eleusinian Mysteries the Earth goddess was fertilized by a serpent, and in many lands women are believed to copulate with snakes, become pregnant and bear snake-children. The bite of a snake gives rise to a girl's menstruation, and girls of the Australian Aborigines avoid places where snakes are likely to inhabit, for they fear pregnancy. Dreams bear witness to the surviving power of the serpent in the underdepths of the soul. Myths are survivals of the dreams of departed peoples. Gilgamesh lost the herb of immortality, snatched from him by a snake in the underworld of the dead. ... In Genesis the serpent is shown in unfallen glory, the wisest of all beasts of the field, so subtle he could change the purpose of the Lord God himself, debasing the original antinomies to crude opposition of good and evil; thus he establishes morality in the fall from glory. As living spirit he pervades nature, never quite forgetting his one-time splendour, reflected in illusions. Among primitives he is the incarnation of the elfin impulse; his twin brother is Man, to whom he gives the art of agriculture and fire-making. In ancient Egypt the word goddess was written with the hieroglyph of the serpent. In Greece and Phoenicia, in Babylonia and India, the serpent twined round the creative function. In the innermost shrines of temples the mysteries of reproduction were revealed, telling how snake and egg met in the womb. Thus also was the universe engendered. The great Serpent and the fire-mist together became the glyph of the Logos: the snake athwart the circle of fire-mist. Thus he created Man, himself as Man's shadow; and must again enter into the unity. The caduceus of Mercury reveals the twin serpents, rising from earth towards heaven. ... To turn rod to serpents, sense-existence to higher achievement was not beyond the spell of sorcerers. Aaron's rod in swallowing the others marks a greater power. Thus the snake insinuates his lithe, ambiguous form into the imaginations of men, achieving the apoglyph of life. He is ever ambiguous. ... The spiritual serpent is identified with Christ, as with Hermes, as with all redeemers and saviours."10
PROVINGS •• [1] Mure - 2 provers [1 male, 1 female]; method: 3rd trit., manner not stated.
•• [2] Lippe - 1 [female] prover, 1854; method: single dose of 4th dil.
"The symptoms which I have collected, are not a great many, but they can be depended upon. Most of the symptoms were experienced by several provers, and some of them have already been confirmed by treatment, among which may be mentioned the oppression in going up-stairs, the vesicular eruption on the feet and the deafness. This last symptom is of great importance on account of its being so obstinate. For pulmonary affections the poison of the cobra-coral may likewise prove a valuable remedy, especially for the second stage of phthisis, characterised by bloody cough and derangement of the digestive functions. It may likewise be serviceable in mental alienation and cutaneous eruptions. The special action which the poison seems to exercise on the right side, the paralysis, the lancinations, have appeared to me worthy of attention. The gyratory motions, desire to move to and fro, the scaling off of the epidermis and several symptoms relating to the disposition and the mind, seem to deserve the attention of the philosophical physician."11
[1] Norris, Coral Snake Envenomations; [website]. [2] Downer, Supernatural. [3] Mure, Provings of the principal Animal and Vegetable Poisons of the Brazilian Empire. [4-8] Engel, Snakes - an essay in interpretation; BHJ, July 1959. [9-10] Grant Watson, Animals in Splendour and Decline, The Serpent; BHJ, January 1966. [11] Mure, ibid.
Affinity
Blood. Nose. Ears. Throat. * Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Cold; cold drinks, cold food. Dampness. Night. In room.
Better: Walking [> epistaxis, pain in stomach and lungs]. Lying on abdomen [> pain in stomach].
Main symptoms
c Common themes of snake remedies [after Jayesh Shah]:
* Demand attention.
* Must be attractive.
* Love of colours, music.
* Clairvoyance.
* Strong fear and dreams of snakes.
* Marked PMS.
* Strong fear of water, of drowning.
* Dreams about dead people.
M Desire for solitude.
Aversion to company, avoids the sight of people.
Wants to get into the country away from people.
• "For days she remains in the corner of the anti-chamber."
• "She retires to a distant room to work."
• "Desire to be in a deep cavern, where nobody can see her."
• "She wants to leave the house at the moment when she is going to bed."
• "Plans of travelling, etc."
• "Desire for country-air and sport." [Mure]
M Dread of being alone, out of fear.
Fear that something horrible will happen.
Fear of rain [connected to sinusitis]; fear of apoplexy; fear of robbers; fear of snakes.
• "According to Shah the main theme of Elaps is the dread of being alone and when alone fears that is going to happen. A feeling of threat as if he is going to be beaten up, feeling as if ruffians are going to break in, which explains the desire for company. Some very important features of Elaps are the amelioration while travelling by car [Naja], playing in the grass and the dreams of being raped, attacked [Cenchris, Sepia]."1
M Auditory hallucinations.
• "Strange illusion of hearing; she heard whistling and ringing, and rises to see where it is." • "She hears distinct whistling." [Mure]
M Colours.
• "The facts that other non-venomous snakes imitate coral snakes - but their bands are slightly different - and that coral snakes are the most beautiful and highly coloured snakes made me think about fashion clothing [beauty + imitation = fashion]. I have one patient I first saw 15 years ago and has had many remedies. She has done well on Elaps since I understood the remedy in this way. She is a person who is very fashion conscious and would spend a lot of money on clothes. Coral snakes are mainly red, black and white/yellow in coloration and I have had patients who wore a lot of red and black do well on Elaps too."2
• "On closing the eyes, everything looks red, dotted with black points." [Mure]
M Falling.
• "I find that the [Elaps] patients have a fear of falling down, losing their image in society. They like to maintain a very good image and value the good opinion of others. One has to differentiate this remedy from Palladium and sometimes from Platinum. Their talk is quite animated and egoistic. They are loquacious and have a tendency to put others down, but not in an egoistic way. They often come from respected families and are multi-talented in the areas of leadership, appearance, cooking, etc." [Sankaran]
• "I was the best of 500 students at school. I love competition, I put everything I had into my studies, always on the top, I escalated, I think high. Later on I went down in my studies, because relationships became more important, so I put everything I had into relationships. I want them to be perfect. When this friend destroyed our solidarity, I fell into the black abyss."3
G Black.
• "Elaps is distinguished from the other serpent venoms by the pre-eminent blackness of its discharges and haemorrhages."
Mostly used in uterine complaints, menstrual problems, haemorrhages, esp. when markedly < from exertion; copious flow from just walking around. G Chilliness. Cold feeling in bones. Cold feeling in single parts. • "On the least contrariety the body shudders and the blood boils, with pricklings." [Mure] Yet desire for open air. G Marked craving for SALADS, ORANGES, ice, milk, buttermilk, whipped cream. • "I have usually identified Elaps by its very strong physical cravings/concomitants, for example the desire for bananas [my observation], oranges, salad, sweetened buttermilk [in India, a yoghurt drink called 'Lassi'], ice, sweet, sour, milk. Its other symptom which I have repeatedly confirmed is the burning pain in oesophagus and stomach, commonly described by the patient as 'acidity' which is ameliorated by cold drinks - the cold drink can be felt descending from oesophagus down to the stomach, where it feels quite cold." [Sankaran] G THIRST. Must drink in order to swallow. G Right side stronger affected. • "Right side feels paralyzed, weak or insensible." [Boger] G > LYING on ABDOMEN.
P Dim vision.
• "Greyish gauze before the eyes, like a cloud, which becomes thicker; at first it is of the size of a penny and spreads until finally it covers the whole field of vision." [Mure]
P Catarrh.
• "E.V. Moffat has found Elaps 6 almost a specific in chronic naso-pharyngeal catarrh, with greenish crusts and subjective disagreeable odour." [Clarke]
P Spasms of oesophagus.
Gurgling when drinking.
• "The food descends in the oesophagus as if turned round like a screw. At other time the soup falls heavily and precipitately, as if through a metallic tube into the stomach, which trembles violently." [Mure]
P Cold drinks feel like ice in stomach.
P Pain in stomach > lying on abdomen.
P Desquamating eruptions on tips of fingers.
P Stagnation.
• "The blood remains congested in the hand, which is of a violet colour and as if paralysed; it has to be kept erect in order to prevent the congestion." [Mure]
[compare Vipera].
[1] seminar report Jayesh Shah, Case 1; HL 3/94. [2] Michael Thompson, Snakes; [unpublished manuscript]. [3] Serban, The up and down snake: A case of Elaps corallinus; HL 2/98.
Rubrics
Mind
Anger, when spoken to [2]. Biting, fingers during sleep [1/1]. Aversion to company, wants to get into the country away from people [1]; yet fear of being alone [1]; desire for company due to feeling as if something terrible might happen [2/1]. Desire for countryside [1]. Delusions, is being injured [1], rowdies will break in if she was alone [1/1], he hears talking [1/1], of hearing voices [2], she hears whistling [1*]. Desire to be in a cavern [1/1]. Fear, of rain [2], of robbers [1], of snakes [2], of solitude [1]. Irritability, with himself [2]. Desire to play in the grass [1/1]. Sadness, during wet weather [2]. Feels as though she must shriek [2]. Desire to strike [1]. Taciturn, during menses [1]. Desire for travelling [1].
Head
Pain, from fasting, if hunger is not appeased at once [1].
Vision
Colours, black disk [1/1], black spots when eyes are closed [1; Con.]; red, at night [1], red on closing eyes [1/1], fiery red spots [1]. Objects seem to be moving to and fro, towards noon [1/1].
Ear
Noises, buzzing, as from a fly in ear [1*].
Nose
Discharges, smelling like fish-brine [1], offensive, like herring pickle [2/1]. Obstruction, right side, > lying on right side [1*]; in wet weather [1]. Odours, imaginary, of fish-brine [1].
Throat
Food falls straight down as if through a metallic tube [1*], turns like a corkscrew through oesophagus on swallowing [1/1]. Sensation of a lump, oesophagus, after eating [1]. Spasm, oesophagus, when swallowing liquids [1]. Must drink in order to swallow [1].
Stomach
Coldness, after cold drinks [3], after fruit [1].
Abdomen
Constriction, as by a string, intestines [1]. Peristalsis, reversed [1].
Bladder
Tenesmus, with icy cold feet [2/1].
Female
Menses, black [1], copious [1], irregular, between periods [2].
Chest
Coldness, as if ice water were rising and descending through a cylindrical tube [1/1]. Pain, tearing, as if lungs were forced apart [1*].
Back
Pain, pressing, cervical region, as if cerebellum had settled downwards [1*]. Pulsating, cervical region, like ticking of a clock [1*].
Limbs
Sensation of paralysis, hands [1]. Swelling, left foot [2].
Dreams
Dead bodies [1]. Falling into an abyss [1]. Journeys [1].
Generals
Desire for open air [2].
* Repertory additions [Mure].
Food
Aversion: [2]: Meat. [1]: Bananas; bread; cold drinks; milk; oranges; plums; sour; water.
Desire: [2]: Ice; milk; sweets; [whipped] cream. [1]: Buttermilk; oranges; salads; sour.
Worse: [2]: Cold drinks. [1]: Bread; fruit.
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