VENOM OF THE PHILIPPINE COBRA (ALUPONG) NAJA 
NAJA PHILIPPINENSIS 
By Drs. C. MoNSERRAT, O. SCHOBL, and L. E.. GUERRERO 
The present paper is but a short review of certain investiga- 
tions which have been conducted by us in the Bureau of Science. 
Because of the fact that we are dealing with a snake widely 
distributed in the provinces of the Archipelago, and because of 
the belief that it is one of the most poisonous among our native 
ophidians, we thought it best to study the biologic properties 
of its poison to gain an idea of its toxic and hemolytic powers, 
and to attempt to produce a true antiserum which would neu- 
tralize its deleterious effect on the organism. 
It is generally believed that there exist in the Philippines very 
few species of poisonous snakes and that the mortality due to 
snake bites is negligible. Both Griffin and Taylor have dis- 
proved this belief by showing that there exists in the Philippines 
a considerable number of more or less poisonous species of 
snakes. Of these, the cobra is the most widespread and the 
one which is probably responsible for the majority of deaths 
due to snake bite. 
Catanjal in a paper published in 1912 claims that in the 
Philippines eighty-six persons died in 1909 of snake bite. These 
deaths occurred in fourteen provinces. The distribution is 
evident from the following table: 
Province, Cases. Province. : Cases. 
Albay 9 | Isabela 1 
Ambos Camarines 1 | Laguna 3 
Batangas : 13 | La Union oe 
Bohol 2| Misamis 1 
Cagayan 3| Nueva Ecija 6 
Ilocos Norte 18 | Pangasinan 16 
Ilocos Sur 5! Tarlac : 6 
Catanjal figures that 3.14 per cent of the deaths in these 
fourteen provinces were due to snake bite, basing his figures 
on the data of the 1903.Census. Further statistics of the Health 
Service during the period between 1913 and 1918 show 847 
deaths from snake bite, an average per year of 141.17 deaths. 
This is 1.41 per each 100,000 inhabitants, taking as a basis a 
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