TEE (PLY STOLOGY OR: POTSONING 201 
puscles, not only against the action of lecithin (complement), 
but also against distilled water, ether, &c. 
Noguchi, seeking more thoroughly to elucidate the mechanism 
of this protective action, finds that Cobra-venom forms a precipitate 
with blood-serum, when the latter is relatively poor in salts or 
when it is dilated with water. It likewise forms a precipitate with 
the aqueous extract of red corpuscles, and precipitates the globulins, 
hemoglobin, or globin of the corpuscle, when treated separately. 
The precipitates are insoluble in water, but dissolve with the 
assistance of a small quantity of acid or alkali, and also in a great 
excess of saline solution. 
Noguchi supposes that red corpuscles, when treated with strong 
solutions of venom, are protected against destructive agents on 
account of the formation by the venom and certain constituents 
of the corpuscle (chiefly hemoglobin) of a compound insoluble 
in water. When this compound is removed by repeated washings 
in physiological solution, the corpuscles can easily be hæmolysed 
afresh by the ordinary destructive agents. Venom, none the less, 
exerts a noxious influence upon the corpuscles in all cases ; but 
when strong solutions are employed, this effect is masked by the 
protective action. 
All kinds of red blood corpuscles are not equally sensitive to 
the protective action of strong doses of venom. In this respect 
all degrees are observed in the action of venom. Thus the cor- 
puscles of the dog are not protected at all by Cobra-venom. But 
it is interesting to observe that this venom in no way precipitates 
either the aqueous extract of dog’s corpuscles, or the hemoglobin, 
or the globin of this animal. 
The venom of Crotalus and that of Ancistrodon likewise possess 
protective power, which is, however, less marked than in the case 
of Cobra-venom. 
Noguchi finally points out that corpuscles treated with venom 
are not hæmolysed by fluorescent substances such as eosin. They 
are also refractory to the hæmolysing action of tetanolysin. 
