444 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



The immunization lasts about a year, and toward the end enor- 

 mous doses are given reaching 1 gram. The horse is then ready 

 and the serum from its blood is antitoxic for the venom with which 

 it has been inoculated. 



In such manner is prepared at Butantan the anticrotalic, the 

 antibothropic and the polyvalent serums. The last is obtained by 

 alternating the injections, using the venom first from one kind, then 

 from the other kind of snake, and, as its name indicates, it is valuable 

 as a remedy for the bites of all Brazilian snakes. It is therefore of 

 exceptional practical value. 



An immunized horse will furnish serum for a very long time, 

 provided that from time to time new injections of the venom are 

 administered. After each bleeding necessary for a supply of serum, 

 the antitoxic power of the horse diminishes rapidly but recovers 

 several days afterwards. 



In the case of man, the injection of the serum under the skin 

 should be made during the 12 hours following a bite. If the kind 

 of snake producing the bite is known, the serum specific to that kind 

 is the more efficient toxin to employ in doses of from 10 to 20 c. c, 

 for it works more quickly and with special efficacy. If the kind of 

 snake is not known, as is usually the case, then the polyvalent 

 serum must be injected in doses up to 60 c. c. in serious cases. 



The serum is furnished to the public in sealed tubes packed in 

 little wooden boxes. A minimum price is charged. Further, the 

 institute at Butantan distributes the serum free to hospitals, to 

 cities, and to the very poor, together with injection syringes and the 

 necessary directions for its use. The only remuneration asked by 

 Dr. Brazil, at times, in exchange for the serum, is the snakes which 

 are essential to him; and so by bringing a cascavel or a jararaca, the 

 Brazilian countryman receives a tube of the liquid serum. 



I was very curious to visit the institution at Butantan during the 

 few days I stopped at St. Paul near the outskirts of which it is 

 situated. My distinguished colleague and friend, Dr. Alves de 

 Lima, whom I can not thank too much for his generous hospitality, 

 kindly offered to accompany me there. I copy the following account 

 from the note book of my travels : 



A powerful 40-horsepower automobile carried us, raising clouds of dust, along the 

 route which traversed a smiling country dotted with trees and exotic Bhrubs. After 

 a ride of about half an hour we stopped at the gate of a kind of large chalet which 

 belonged to a group of new buildings, the serotherapeutic institution of Butantan. 

 A man of about 40 years of age, tall, energetic, sun burned, wearing a black mustache, 

 with remarkably deep, black eyes, a reserved and deliberate manner in marked con- 

 trast with his southern appearance, received us on the threshold. He wore a long 

 white coat, such as surgeons and physiologists wear. Such was Dr. Vital Brazil, 

 director of the institution and a great philanthropist. To him Brazil, and indeed 

 all the other countries of South America, owe the systematic production of the serum 



