88 Prof. C. J. Martin. 



increased on the same diet as that in the normal dogs, and the choles- 

 tcrin is decreased. 



That the formation of urobilin in the faeces is diminished in the 

 absence of the large intestine ; the sulphates vary the same as the 

 normal as regards those combined with the alkalis, while those com- 

 bined with the aromatic substances are markedly diminished, showing 

 that intestinal putrefaction is decreased. 



" Further Observations concerning the Relation of the Toxin and 

 Anti-Toxin of Snake-Venom." By CHARLES J. MARTIN, M.B., 

 D.Sc., Acting Professor of Physiology in the University of 

 Melbourne. Communicated by W. D. HALLIBURTON, F.E.S. 

 Received August 23, 1898, and published during the Vacation. 



The discrepancy between the quantities of anti-venene required to 

 neutralise a given dose of venom when they are (1) previously mixed 

 outside the body, and (2) simultaneously injected under the skin in 

 different parts of the body, has been drawn attention to by Fraser and 

 myself. My experience coincides with Fraser's* upon this point, viz., 

 that it requires at least 10 20 times as much anti-venene to counter- 

 act a given dose of venom when they are injected separately, but at 

 the same time, as is necessary to effect this if they are mixed together 

 prior to injection. 



Sometimes, however, the quantity necessary by simultaneous but 

 separate injection may be much greater ; in one of Fraser's experiments 

 1000 times as great, f Moreover, there is no constant ratio between 

 the amounts necessary under the two conditions, as will be seen from 

 the experiments tabulated below (Series A). In this series, experi- 

 ments 1 4, in which increasing doses of venom were employed, show 

 that 0*5 c.c. of the particular sample of serum used was more than 

 adequate to prevent a fatal result when previously mixed for fifteen 

 minutes at temperature 13 C. with 0'5 c.c. of a solution containing 

 0-0001 gram of the venom per c.c. As 0-00003 gram per kilo was 

 found to be the minimal fatal dose of this poison, one may be sure that 

 under these conditions 0'5 c.c. of the serum is adequate to neutralise 

 more than 0*00002 gram of the venom, that is, 0'00005 gram minus one 

 fatal dose. 



In experiments 5 12, 0' 00005 gram of venom per kilo, was injected 

 in each case, and increasing amounts of serum separately, but at the 

 same time. Under these conditions, every quantity less than 8 c.c., 

 that is, sixteen times as much as is fully adequate to prevent any 

 symptoms when brought directly into contact with the poison before 



* < Nature,' April 23, 1896. 

 f Loc. cit., p. 594. 



