VENOMOUS ANIMALS AND THEIR TOXINS — RUSSELL 483 



Figure 1. — The sting of the stingray showing (a) the spine; (b) a cross section through the 

 middle of (a) at AB; (c) an enlargement of a ventrolateral groove, drawn from the 

 area marked CD in (b). The large venom-producing cells are below^ the surface of the 

 sheath. 



We have some evidence on which to speculate that it would be to the 

 snake's advantage not to kill its prey immediately on envenomation. 

 It would seem that if the enzymatic components of the venom were 

 to serve their best use they should be circulated, so far as possible, 

 throughout the prey's body immediately prior to its death. The fact 

 is that mice sacrificed and injected with the venom show less evidence 

 of tissue autolysis than those killed by the venom within a minute of 

 the poisoning. While snake venoms serve an important digestive 

 function they do not appear to be absolutely necessary for this function. 

 With these several considerations in mind some insight into the 

 physiopharmacological or zootoxicological properties of venoms is 



