FERMENTS IN SNAKE VENOM 213 
DIASTATIC ACTIONS OF SNAKE VENOM. 
In 1884 Lacerda’ made a series of observations, ascribing to venom the 
power of emulsifying fats and coagulating milk, but not of saccharifying 
starch. His experiments did not exclude possible bacterial contamination 
and are considered not conclusive as to the interpretation he thus offered. 
In 1894 Wehrmann,’ under Calmette, and then Launoy,’ repeated this 
study, and found that venom does not hydrolyze starch or inulin; but that 
saccharose is slightly inverted by the venom of cobra and of viper. Venom 
does not modify glucosides — amygdalin, coniferin, salicin, arbutin, and 
digitalin; hence it does not contain emulsin. According to Launoy cobra 
venom has no catalytic action, neither positive nor negative, upon soluble 
ferments: emulsin, amylase, and pancreatin. It exerts a slight inhibitory 
action upon pepsin. 
On the other hand, Delezenne ‘ has shown that venom contains a kinase 
and activates the inactive pancreatic juice, enabling the latter energetically 
to hydrolyze albumin. ‘This investigator found that 0.0005 to o.cor gm. of 
lachesis venom added to 1 c.c. of pancreatic juice can completely digest 0.5 gm. 
of albumin within 10 to 12 hours. Even 0.0002 to o.coor gm. and sometimes 
only 0.c000125 gm. were sufficient to digest the same quantity of albumin, 
although 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours were respectively required to com- 
plete its action. Cobra venom was found to be less active, requiring 0.0005 
to o.ocor gm., and the pelias venom requires about 5 times as much to obtain 
the same effect. Delezenne found that this kinetic property of venom dis- 
appears when heated to 100° C. for 15 minutes. 
LIPOLYTIC ACTION OF SNAKE VENOM. 
According to Neuberg and Rosenberg ® snake venom has a feeble lipolytic 
power on lecithin, olive oil, and castor oil, and this action is accelerated by 
the addition of manganese sulphate. The proof for the existence of such 
ferment in venom requires a strict quantitative work, because the materials 
used for this test have more or less inherent acidity, especially the lipoids. 
Scrutinizing the work of these investigators, we find that the reaction, as the 
lipolytic action of snake venom on neutral fats is so weak that the increase in the 
degree of acidity after splitting, does not exceed one-tenth of that already 
present before the venom has acted. On the other hand, the increase in 
acidity is much more pronounced when the activator (MnSO,) is used and 
may amount to one-third the original acidity. The splitting of lecithin 
is much more easily accomplished by venom and the increase in acidity may 
amount to nearly 5 times the original in the case of cobra venom and 
2 times in the case of water-moccasin venom. The lipolytic action of cro- 
talus venom on lecithin was not stated by these investigators. 

1 Lacerda. Legons sur le venin des serpents du Brasil. 1884. 
?Wehrmann. Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 1898, XII, sro. 
3Launoy. Thése, Paris, 1903. Joc. cit. 
‘ Delezenne. C. R. Ac. des Sc., 1902, CXXXV, 329. 
5 Neuberg und Rosenberg. Lipolyse, Agglutination, Hamolyse. Berlin. klin. Woch., 1907, XLIV, 54. 
