GENERAL PROPERTIES AND ACTIONS OF THE VENOM. 69 



Guinea-pig 100, 4^0 g. 



June 21, 2^18^ opened abdominal cavity, examined intestines and sewed up wall; 

 injected 0.1 c.c. of venom subcutaneously. 5^15"^ dead; fluid and gas in- 

 creased in intestine ; hemorrhages and self-digested areas in stomach. 

 G%dnea-pig 102, 420 g. 



June 21, 2^ 50"^ opened abdominal cavity, examined intestine, sewed up wall, and 

 injected 0.15 c.c. of venom. 5^ 30'" dead; fluid and gas increased in intestine; 

 hemorrhages and self-digested areas in stomach lining. 

 Guineorpig 101, 440 g. (control). 



June 21, 2^40'° opened abdominal cavity, examined intestines, sewed up wall, and 

 injected subcutaneously 1 c.c. of sterile salt solution. <•)'' 40" killed ; no changes. 

 Guinea-pigs 103 and 104 (conlrols). 



June 21, 6'' W^ killed two guinea-pigs from same lot for controls; intestines without 

 excess of fluid or gas; stomachs normal. 



HISTOLOGICAL CHANGES PRODUCED BY INJECTION OF VENOM.* 



We investigated the histological changes produced in the organs of rabbits, 

 guinea-pigs, and mice by the injection of heloderma venom. In some cases 

 the animals had died shortly after a single injection, in other cases the organs 

 examined were from animals which had received repeated injections of venom 

 over varying periods of time. In the animals which died of acute poisoning, 

 after a single administration of venom, no distinct histological changes were 

 noted in any of the organs. Some of these animals died but a few minutes 

 after the injection (rabbits injected intravenously with large doses), while 

 others hved as long as 48 hours after the injection (rabbits or guinea-pigs in 

 whose abdominal cavity a collodion capsule containing venom had been placed) . 



In the organs of animals dying a very short time after the administration 

 of venom — within 30 minutes — no changes whatsoever were noted. When the 

 animals died at periods between 1 hour and 48 hours after the administration 

 of the venom the only noticeable change was a general venous congestion in the 

 liver, lungs, and kidneys. In no cases were any degenerative changes noted in 

 the organs of rabbits, guinea-pigs, or mice. 



In the animals which received repeated injectionsf of venom over long 

 periods of time, changes were occasionally found in the various organs, but 

 these changes did not appear regularly, nor did they bear any relationship to 

 the length of time during which the animal had been injected with venom or to 

 the amount of venom injected. 



The livers of none of the animals showed any degenerative changes. In 

 one liver, from a rabbit which had received injections for a period of more than 

 6 months and which during this time had received 758 mg. of venom (150 mg. 

 at the last injection), a slight increase of the connective tissue about the portal 

 vessels was noted and in places this connective tissue was pushing in between 

 the liver-cells. The liver of another rabbit which had received in all 0.96 c.c. 

 of venom during a period of almost 3 months showed a slight increase of the 

 connective tissue about the portal vessels. The livers of the other animals 

 injected showed no changes. 



The kidney of one rabbit which died after having received 1,050 mg. of 

 venom during a period of almost 6 months showed an increase in the number of 



*The microscopical examination of the various organs has been carried out by Dr. M.S. Fleisher. 

 tThese were animals which we had attempted to immunize against heloderma venom by the administration 

 of gradually increasing doses of venom. The results of these immunization experiments are reported later. 



