146 



THE VENOM OF HELODERMA. 



As stated above, no corpuscles were found to be susceptible to the venom. 

 An example of one of the experiments with dog corpuscles and fresh venom is 

 shown in the following protocol : 



1 c.c. 5 per cent suspension of dog corpuscles. 



Amount of heloderma venom : 



0.01 c.c 



0.02 c.c 



0.03 c.c 



0.04 c.c 



0.05 c.c 



Amount of heloderma venom: 



0.06 c.c 



0.1 c.c 



0.15 c.c 



0.2 c.c 



0.25 c.c 



In all cases the blood-corpuscles had been washed four times in order to 

 thoroughly free them of the blood serum. 



It may be mentioned that in one case out of seven where guinea-pig cor- 

 puscles were mixed with a solution of the dry venom containing 0.2 mg. of 

 venom, a trace of hemolysis appeared. It seems most probable that in this 

 case we were dealing with some exceptional condition and that either the resist- 

 ance of the corpuscles was less than normal or that the corpuscles had been 

 injured in some manner. 



INFLUENCE OF THE ADDITION OF LECITHIN TO HELODERMA VENOM ON 

 THE HEMOLYSIS OF VARIOUS CORPUSCLES. 



Kyes has shown that the addition of a solution of different commercial 

 lecithins to cobra venom leads to the hemolysis of ox, sheep, and goat corpus- 

 cles, which are normally resistant to hemolysis by venom alone. 



We have used three different specimens of lecithin, Agfa lecithin, Kahl- 

 baum's lecithin aus eigelb, and a preparation of lecithin obtained through the 

 kindness of Dr. Waldemar Koch, of Chicago. The lecithin was purified by 

 dissolving it in ether, from which it was precipitated by the addition of a large 

 quantity of acetone. This precipitated lecithin was then dissolved in methyl 

 alcohol in the proportion of 1 gram of lecithin to 100 grams of methyl alcohol. 

 From this stock solution of lecithin (1 per cent solution) a more dilute solution 

 was made; 1 c.c. of the 1 per cent methyl-alcoholic lecithin solution was mixed 

 with 99 c.c. of 0.85 per cent or 0.95 per cent sodium-chloride solution. The 

 suspension contained 0.0001 gm. of lecithin in every cubic centimeter. 



A few preliminary experiments were made to compare the three specimens 

 of lecithin. In these experiments guinea-pig corpuscles were used. 



Hemolysis of guinea-pig corpuscles by lecithin. 



[1 c.c. of 5 per cent suspension of guinea-pig corpuscles.] 



We found the Chicago andKahlbaum lecithin possessed distinctly stronger 

 hemolytic properties than the Agfa lecithin. Furthermore, filtering the solu- 

 tion does not appear to diminish its hemolytic properties. 



