CHAPTER XXI. 
TOXICITY OF THE TISSUES OF VENOMOUS SNAKES. 
Flexner and Noguchi‘ determined the relative toxicity of the tissues of 
Crotalus adamanteus and found that it greatly depends upon the amount of 
blood contained in the organs. The fresh tissues obtained from snakes bled 
to death were injected intraperitoneally, in the form of sterile emulsions, 
into guinea-pigs weighing about 300 gm. each. The results, as shown in 
table 20, are of interest, but do not, however, represent pure experiments, in 
that with each injection more or less of the blood was introduced. On 
account of the high degree of toxicity possessed by the blood, the organs in 
general were seen to exert injurious effects. The symptoms noted agree 
with those of crotalus-serum poisoning, in keeping with which the organs 
containing the most blood after death are found to be the most toxic. Of 
somewhat special interest are the poisonous properties exhibited by the egg- 
contents. 

TABLE 20. 
uantit 
Organs. Q permis Result. 
Spinal cord .. 2 Ill; recovered. 
Spleen’ ...... 2 Death in 2 hours; moderate hemorrhage. 
JENVER ya oes <i 2 Death in 5 hours; slight hemorrhage. 
Kidney): 22... 2 Ill; recovered. 
Adrenal..... I Ill; recovered. 
eye teetote ais 2 Death in 4 hours; no hemorrhage. 
Muscle ..... 2 Ill; recovered. 
Mestis is... 5: 2 Ill; recovered. 
Pancreas .... 1.2 Ill; recovered. 

The cause of death in the case of crotalus-egg injection may be due to the 
action of the neurotoxin. 
Phisalix? also found that the egg of Vipera berus presents toxic effect similar 
to that described by Flexner and Noguchi with the crotalus egg. 

1 Flexner and Noguchi. Constitution of snake venom and snake sera. Jour. of Path. and Bacteriol., 
_ 1903; VIII, 379. 
2 Phisalix. C. R. Soc. Biol., 1905, LVII, 15. 
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