234 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 
producing intravascular thrombosis. One group of Crotaline can cause 
death by similar toxic principles, while another contains more neurotoxins. 
The species of Ancistrodon belong to the latter group, and Lachesis to the 
former. The venom of Crotalus owes its fatal effects to the locally acting 
principles, the hemorrhagins, which may also be injurious to the vascular 
system throughout the entire body of the victim. The colubrine snakes 
inhabiting Australia possess a venom which contains considerable of both 
neurotoxins and thrombic ferments and can cause death by either of these. 
Besides, the hemolytic toxins of Daboia and Nolechis appear to play an 
important part in chronic toxications with these venoms. 
The above brief presentation of the complex nature of the toxic principles 
of various venoms is introduced here in order to enable one to form a general 
conception on toxicity before describing how our present knowledge of the 
specificity of antivenins has gradually developed. 
The first investigator who observed the inefficiency of Calmette’s antivenin 
against the venom of other species was C. J. Martin, who made tests of the 
neutralizing power of the antivenin against the venom of Pseudechis and 
found that it had a very feeble protective action. In order to discover the 
cause of this failure Martin tested the antivenin against the two separate 
toxic principles which constitute the venom of Pseudechis. 
Martin,’ some time previously, succeeded in separating these two prin- 
ciples, either by heating the venom solution to 80° C. or by filtering through 
the gelatinized porcelain bougie under 50 atmospheric pressures. The heat- 
resistant, non-coagulable portion of the venom is filterable through the bougie 
and has neurotoxic action, while the heat-coagulable, non-filterable component 
has hemotoxic action and also affects the heart. At that time Martin was 
unaware of the independent existence of fibrin ferment and failed to allude 
to this as such, but ascribed this thrombose-production to the extensive 
destruction of the red corpuscles by hemotoxin. Therefore, as he himself 
corrected his former view, the principle which he earlier called hemotoxin 
must be understood as the fibrin ferment. As the result of his experiments on 
animals Martin? pointed out that Calmette’s antivenin can protect the animal 
from the lethal effect of the filterable toxin (neurotoxin), but not at all from 
that of the unfilterable toxin (hemotoxin, fibrin ferment). This explains 
why the unmodified venom, which contains both principles in considerable 
amounts, is not affected by Calmette’s serum. 
Meanwhile Kanthack * was working on a similar problem and brought out 
the fact that Calmette’s antivenin failed to protect animals from the fatal 
effects of comparatively small doses of daboia venom, and concluded that the 
action of antivenin is highly specific for the venom which was used for its 
production. 
1C. J. Martin. Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales, Aug. 5, 1896. 
2C. J. Martin. Concerning the curative power of antivenomous serum on animals inoculated with 
Australian snake’s venom. Intercolon. Med. Jour., 1897, II, 527, 537. 
’ Kanthack. Report on snake venom in its prophylactic relation with poisons of the same and other 
sorts. Rep. Med. Off. Loc. Govern. Bd., 1895-96, London, 1897, 235. 
