THE PHYSIOLOGY OF POISONING 203 
C.—EFrFECTS OF VENOM UPON THE WHITE CORPUSCLES : LEUCOLYSIN. 
The white corpuscles themselves do not escape the action of 
venom. It is possible in vitro to prove this action upon leucocytic 
exudations obtained, e.g., by injecting sterilised cultures of Bacillus 
megatherium into the pleura or peritoneum of the rabbit. After 
a few hours this exudation is removed by means of capillary tubes, 
and, on mixing these with weak doses of venom, we see, in the 
course of a microscopic examination, that the large mononuclear 
cells are the first to be dissolved, then the polynuclears, and lastly 
the lymphocytes. The leucolysis is much more intense and more 
rapid with Cobra-venom than with that of Crotalus (Flexner and 
Noguchi, Noc). 
