OF THE VENOM OF THE RATTLESNAKE. 37 



On reviewing these facts, it appears that in Crotalus venom, 1st, alcohol precipi- 

 tates all the arbuminoicl material, innocent, as well as poisonous. 2d. That heat 

 throws down from diluted venom the bulk of these albuminous compounds in an 

 insoluble and harmless form, and that the residual water still contains an albumi- 

 noid body uucoagulable by heat, but precipitable by alcohol, and of great poisonous 

 activity. 



Now, the yield of crotaline from the plan first mentioned, and that of M. Bona- 

 parte, is very different. So much larger is the quantity obtained by the latter 

 means, that I cannot help suspecting that, besides seizing on the active principle, 

 the water also takes up from the alcoholic precipitate a certain quantity of albumi- 

 nous material which is quite innocent, and can only be coagulated by a heat of 

 1G0° and upwards. 



Besides the two albuminoid bodies, whose presence in venom I have thus made 

 probable, there is also at times a little nitrogenous matter which behaves like the 

 ordinary egg albumen. 



The ether washings of dried venom I found to contain now and then a little oil, 

 which was only to be detected under the microscope. As in M. Bonaparte's 

 analysis, when the alcoholic solution was evaporated, it was found to contana a 

 small quantity of uncrystalline flakes of some unknown body, tinged yellow, and 

 dotted here and there with specks of a deeper hue. 



Besides these elements, we have also a small amount of saline constituents, pro- 

 bably chlorides and phosphates of alkalies. The determination of these bodies 

 seemed to be of no great moment in the present case, and I have therefore failed 

 to study them with minute attention. 



We have thus far determined that the venom of the Rattlesnake is composed of— 



1. An albuminoid body. Crotaline, not coagulable by heat of 212°. 



2. An albuminoid compound coagulable by a temperature of 212° F. 



3. A coloring matter, and an undetermined substance, both soluble in alcohol. 



4. A trace of fatty matter. 



5. Salts, chlorides, and phosphates. 



At this period of our investigation it would be interesting to compare the venom 

 more carefully with the ordinary salivary fluids, a step which is rendered necessary 

 by the fact that De Blainville and others have considered the venom gland as the 

 analogue of the parotid, and the venom as only a peculiar salivary fluid. 



Before we carry on such a comparison, it is necessary to state the results of a 

 number of experiments and observations, which, while they aid us in elucidating 

 the present branch of our subject, have also an important bearing upon the 

 question of the true character of the poison of the venom. We shall proceed, 

 therefore, to the statement of the observations in question, and afterwards to the 

 discussion of the claims of the poison gland and its secretion, to the titles of salivary 

 gland and saliva. 



If the poison gland is a salivary gland at all, it is, of course, from its anatomical 

 relations a parotid gland, and its secretion is comparable only with the parotid 

 secretion. In the lack of information as to the nature of this saliva in serpents 

 generally, we can only compare the venom with the parotid saliva of the horse, 



