THE ISOLATION OF SNAKE VENOM LECITHIDS. 467 



in his studies on ricin and antiricin, and the results are entirely similar 

 to Ehrhch's. 1 



Still another important analogy between snake venoms and bac- 

 terial poisons consists in their plurality, a fact which has been demon- 

 strated for a number of poisons. In the ordinary well-defined chem- 

 ical poisons we are accustomed to regard the diverse toxic phenomena 

 as due to the action of one and the same substance on different organs. 

 (In poisoning with corrosive sublimate, for example, the diverse 

 toxic phenomena which are produced in the various organs.) The 

 toxins, however, have to a large extent shown a different behavior, 

 the action on different organs being ascribed to different kinds of 

 poisons, which frequently possess different haptophore groups. The 

 possibility of correctly and sufficiently analyzing these poisons de- 

 pends in a large measure on Ehrlich's theory of the combination of 

 these poisons. In this way it has been shown that tetanus toxin 

 consists of at least two components, tetanospasmin and tetanolysin, 2 

 to which, according to Tizzoni, a third poison must be added, one 

 which gives rise to the cachexia. 



In snake venom the conditions are entirely similar, the different 

 effects which it produces in the animal body being due to the presence 

 of different poisons with different haptophore groups. The late 

 lamented Myers 3 showed that the hsemolytic property of snake venom 

 is to be separated from its neuro toxic property; and recently Flexner 

 and Noguchi 4 have shown that the cedematous swellings produced 

 by injections of snake venom are due to the presence of a third toxic 

 component acting on the endothelium. 



For some years I have closely studied cobra venom, and especially 

 that constituent of the same which causes solution of the red blood- 

 cells. Part of these researches were conducted conjointly with Dr. 

 H. Sachs. 5 I was able to confirm the interesting observation of 

 Flexner and Noguchi 6 that the snake venom, as such, did not act 

 on certain blood-cells, but that haemolysis occurred only when a second 

 substance is present which acts after the manner of a complement. 



1 Ehrlich, Fortschritte der Medizin, 1897. 



2 Ehrlich in Madsen's paper, Zeitschrift f Hygiene, Vol. XXXII, 1899. 



3 Myers, Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, 1900, VI, 405. 



4 Flexner and Noguchi, Univ. of Penna. Medical Bulletin, Vol. XV, No. 9, 

 1902. 



6 Kyes, see page 291 ; Kyes and Sachs, see page 443. 



6 Flexner and Noguchi, Journal of Exp. Medicine, Vol. VI, No. 3. 1902. 



