26 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES 



actions, with lecithin or other fatty substances, 

 the resulting compound showing special charac- 

 teristics. Thus, cobra-lecithid is, like cobra 

 poison, soluble in water, and like lecithin, 

 soluble in fat solvents ; in its physical properties, 

 therefore, it is a link between albumins and 

 lipoid substances, and is therefore especially 

 suited for distribution. 



It is a special characteristic of the formation 

 of lecithids that out of two absolutely non- 

 poisonous substances a powerful poison is 

 formed, which, in its biological and physico- 

 chemical reactions, differs markedly from the 

 two substances from which it sprang, and does 

 not contain lecithin as such, one fatty-acid 

 residue being removed during the process of 

 formation. I believe that this possibility of the 

 transformation of certain substances, inactive 

 in themselves, from albuminoids to lipoids of 

 powerful action a transformation which has 

 been proved to occur in the case of snake 

 poisons plays a prominent part in the pro- 

 cesses of the living body, and is of importance 

 for distribution and action. I would again in- 

 sist upon the fact that in lecithid-formation there 

 results, from the reaction of two non-poisonous 

 substances upon one another, a product which 



