Compared with "certain" potioneers, Cassino had studied quite a bit of Muggle research material. In 1767, an Italian toxicologist named Abbé Fontana wrote a specialized paper on snake venom. Doctors at the time believed that snake venom was either acidic or alkaline, and that specific venomous snakebites needed to be treated with liquid ammonia or liquid alkali mixed with a small amount of oil of amber, releasing the acidic substances in the venom to achieve a cure.
Fontana pointed out that venom was neither acid nor alkali, and proved through experiments that using ammonia to treat venomous snakebites was ineffective. Through dissections of venomous snakes' teeth, he also explained the mechanism by which they bit animals and injected venom through hollow fangs. Not all venomous snakes sprayed venom like cobras.
Snake venom came in countless colors and forms. Some resembled honey, some condensed milk. Some venoms broke down muscle, while others caused blood clotting. Cobra venom contained anticoagulant components and was itself a neurotoxin; if the blood stopped flowing, it would instead prevent the toxin from spreading throughout the body.
People at the time believed that unless venom was immediately fatal, the human body had a detoxification system and the toxin would gradually diminish over time. But Fontana proved through experiments that if an amputation was performed promptly before the toxin entered the circulatory system, the organism could survive.
Some people liked to steep venomous snakes in alcohol, but fresh venomous snakes were absolutely not to be used. They had to be dried in the sun, baked, drained of venom from their fangs, and stripped of their venom glands. Only after the snake had lost its toxicity could it be steeped.
But this also depended on the alcohol concentration. If the ethanol concentration was insufficient and the venom concentration too