THE PHYSIOLOGY OF POISONING 209 
while normal serum heated, even in larger doses, is without effect. 
The lysin and the antivenomous serum appear also to enter into 
stable combination; by heating to 80°C., after dilution of the 
mixture neutral antivenomous serum + venom, the property of 
dissolving is not restored to the latter. 
Pursuing his researches upon the bacteriolytic actions, Noc has 
also shown that the fresh serums of the rabbit, horse, guinea- 
pig, rat, and man are capable of destroying them completely. 
We must conclude from this that venom has the property of 
fixing the alexin of these fresh serums, and in fact it is easy to 
show that this fixation takes place by experimenting with hæmo- 
lytic alexin, which is much more easy to study; it is sufficient 
to eliminate the intervention of the hemolysin proper to Cobra- 
venom. 
With this object, Noc employed horse-corpuscles (which are 
readily dissolved by fresh rat-serum), and neutralised the hæmo- 
lysin proper to the venom by antivenomous serum, which has no 
effect upon fresh horse-corpuscles and upon the alexin of rat-serum. 
For experimental purposes six tubes are prepared with contents 
as follows :— 
(1) 0°5 c.c. of fresh rat-serum. 
(2) 0°5 c.c. of fresh rat-serum + 0°5 milligramme of Cobra- 
venom (0°5 c.c. of a solution of 1 in 1,000). 
(3) 0°5 c.c. of fresh rat-serum + 1 milligramme of venom (after 
fifteen minutes’ contact of the venom with the alexin in tubes 2 
and 3 the venom is neutralised by 1 c.c. of antivenomous serum 
in the case of tube 2, and by 2 c.c. in that of tube 3). 
(4) 1 milligramme of venom. 
(5) 1 c.c. of antivenomous serum. 
(6) 0°5 c.c. of fresh rat-serum + 1 c.c. of antivenomous serum. 
To each tube 2 drops of defibrinated horse-blood are added, and 
the tubes are placed in the stove at a temperature of 35° C. 
In tubes 1 and 6, which contain fresh rat-serum alone, and fresh 
serum + antivenomous serum, hemolysis appears in a few minutes. 
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