HEMOLYTIC PROPERTIES OF HELODERMA VENOM. 



151 



Turtle Corpuscles. 



Turtle corpuscles were distinctly resistant to the hemolytic action of 

 lecithin; 20 mg. of lecithin were not sufficient to cause hemolysis of the turtle 

 corpuscles. 



2 c.c. of 5 per cent suspension of turtle corpuscles. 



If, on the other hand, much venom (0.5 mg. of dry venom or 0.015 c.c. of 

 fresh venom) was mixed with lecithin the turtle corpuscles were hemolyzed 

 with very small amounts of lecithin. Thus the addition of 0.015 mg. of leci- 

 thin to the fresh venom was sufficient to cause slight hemolysis; while 0.06 mg. 

 of lecithin, the smallest quantity of lecithin added to dry venom, caused 

 complete hemolysis of the turtle corpuscles. Simultaneously with these exper- 

 iments with fresh venom a similar series with guinea-pig corpuscles was carried 

 out, our object being to compare the susceptibility of turtle and guinea-pig 

 corpuscles to the mixture of lecithin and venom. While turtle corpuscles were 

 distinctly more resistant to the action of lecithin alone, we found that the 

 guinea-pig corpuscles and turtle corpuscles were hemolyzed by nearly the same 

 amounts of venom and lecithin. (In this experiment turtle corpuscles were 

 moderately hemolyzed by a mixture containing 0.01 c.c. of fresh venom and 

 0.06 mg. of lecithin, while guinea-pig corpuscles were practically completely 

 hemolyzed by a similar mixture of these substances.) 



Frog Corpuscles. 



Only one experiment was carried out with frog corpuscles, and in this 

 experiment we tested the influence of 0.1 mg. of venom to which lecithin was 

 added and found that as little as 0.01 mg. of lecithin would activate this quan- 

 tity of venom. 



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



Heloderma Corpuscles. 



Heloderma corpuscles, like turtle corpuscles, are resistant to hemolysis by 

 lecithin; 45 mg. of lecithin are required to hemolyze 1 c.c. of heloderma cor- 



