174 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 
The preparations of lecithins which they employed for venom activation 
were only slightly hemolytic, and it required nearly 200 times the amount 
necessary for the activation of cobra venom. A preparation of kephalin was 
also capable of venom activation, while sinapin was devoid of this property. 
The following table states the results in succinct form: 
TABLE 7. 
With 0.2 c.c. 0.025 per ents 
cent lecithin solution. No lecithin. 
I C.c. 5 per cent suspension. 
©.00000005 gm. 0.000025 gm. 
©.000000I gm. Insusceptible. 
0.00000025 gm. 0.0005 gm. 
©.0000005 gm. 0.000025 gm. 
Insusceptible. 
0.000025 gm. 
0.001 gm. 
0.00025 gm. 
0.00001 gm. 


In closing, Kyes and Sachs state that the addition of a small amount of 
hydrochloric acid to cobra venom increased the resistance of the latter’s 
hemolytic substance to the temperature of 100°C. The concentration of 
this acid was one-eighteenth normal, to prevent quick heat-destruction of 
the venom, in which almost no diminution of lytic power took place in 30 
minutes’ boiling, although it was entirely inactive after 2 hours’ heating. 
Kyes finally succeeded in preparing a new compound which possessed 
considerable hemolytic activity from the mixture of an aqueous solution 
of snake venom and chloroform solution of lecithin. The process of pre- 
paration has been described on page 86. This new compound is the 
venom lecithid and was obtained in a microcrystalline form. Usually it 
quickly separates out from the aqueous solution and becomes amorphous. 
It differs in physico-chemical properties from the native venom by its solu- 
bility in various organic-fat solvents and in its enormous resistance to high 
temperature. Its hemolytic action is almost instantaneous and uninfluenced 
by low temperature (0° C.). It is almost non-fatal, although if given sub- 
cutaneously in a very large quantity infiltration takes place. It differs from 
lecithin in its insolubility in ether. 
Cholesterin has inhibitory action upon the hemolytic action upon venom 
lecithid. It is important, after the shaking of the venom solution with chloro- 
form solution of lecithin, that the aqueous portion of the mixture does not 
contain any further hemolytic substance, while the neurotoxic principle 
remains still in solution. 
Besides cobra venom, the venoms of Lachesis lanceolatus, Lachesis anamal- 
ensis, Lachesis flavoviridis, Crotalus adamanteus, Vipera russellii, Bungarus 
céruleus, Bungarus fasciatus, and Naja haje were found to form the lecithids. 
Flexner and Noguchi * kept up their studies on snake venom and found in 
the meanwhile that the venoms freshly squeezed out of the poison glands of 
1 Flexner and Noguchi. The constitution of snake venom and snake sera. Jour. of Path. and Bac- 
teriol., 1903, VIII, 379. 
