SNAKE VEXOMS J 11 



position, which :iio discussed elsewhere; hut the A7nanila phalloides, the most 

 important of tho tiuoo, owes its toxic proijcrtics to at least two poisonous con- 

 stituents. One is powerfully hemolytic, is desiioyod hy heating thirty minutes at 

 0.')°, and acts directly upon red corpuscles without the presence of serum. "^ 



The studies of Ford'" and his associates have shown that this hemolysin is a 

 glueoside, j'ielding on hydrolysis pentose and volatile bases, and yet capable of 

 actinfi as an antigen, since actively antihemolytic sera can })e produced by im- 

 munizing animals. This substance corresponds to the pfinllin of Kobert. Prolj- 

 ably this hemolytic poison is not the important agent in poisoning by Amanita, 

 as it is easily destroyed by heat and the digestive fluids. The thermostable poi.son, 

 A7/i(iuita-t(>.rin, gives no reactions for either glucosides or proteins,'^ and does not 

 confer any considerable antito.xic jiroperty on the blood of immunized animals. 

 The toxin kills acutely, the animals dj-ing in 24 — 48 hours, and showing no changes 

 beyond a fatty degeneration of the internal organs. The hemolysin kills slowly 

 in 3 — 10 days, causing local edema and hemoglobinuria. 



Amanita muscaria contains a heat-resistant agglutinin which also seems to be a 

 glucoside, but it is not toxic nor antigenic. 



An extensive study of many fungi by Ford'* led him to classify the toxic action 

 in three groups: (1) nerve poisons, e. g., muscarine; (2) those causing structural 

 changes in the viscera, e. g., A. phallnidcs, causing fatty degeneration; (3) gastro- 

 intestinal irritants, c. g., Lactariits torjuinosus. 



The poison of Rhus toxicodendron has also been found bj' Acree and Synie" to 

 be a glucoside,'-" and the same is true of the poison oak, Rhus diversiloba, which 

 has no antigenic properties. 2' 



(The effects of the phytotoxins on the blood are discussed under 

 "Hemolysis" in Chapter ix. Vegetable hemolytic poisons that do 

 not resemble the toxins, e. g., glucosides, etc., will also be found dis- 

 cussed under the same heading.) 



ZOOTOXINS" 



Snake Venoms -^ 



This important class of poisons, first thoroughly investigated by 

 Weir Mitchell (I860), and Mitchell and Reichert (1883), has re- 

 cently aroused great interest through its relations to bacterial toxins 

 and the problems of immunity. The poisons of different species of 

 snakes seem to have much in common with one another, whether de- 

 rived from the Elaiperine snakes (cobras and numerous other Indian 

 and Australian snakes), or Viperidce (including most poisonous Amer- 

 ican snakes), or Hijdrophince (the poisonous sea-snakes), although 

 very characteristic ditferences exist between each. 



'* The hemagglutinin of Agaricus cam,pestris is precipitated at a H-ion concen- 

 tration of 2.G X 10-^ (Brossa, Arch. sci. med., 1915 (39), 241). 



'6 See Jour, of Pharm., 1910 (2), 145; 1913 (4), 235, 241, and 321. 



'^ Rabe (Zeit. exp. Path., 1911 (9), 352) considers it to be an alkaloid. 



'» Jour, of Pharm., 1911 (2), 285. 



'9 Jour. Biol. Cheni., 1907 (2), 547. 



-"Questioned by McNair, Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1916 (38). 1417. 



^' Adelung, Arch. Int. Med., 1913 (11), 148. 



-- Full review and literature given by Faust, "Die tieris.ihen Gifte," Braun- 

 schweig, 1906; also in Abderhalden's Handbuch, Vol. II. iSachs, Kolle and Was- 

 sermann's Handbuch, 1913 (2), 1407. 



-^ Elaborate review and bii)Iiography given by Noguchi, Carnegie Institution 

 Publications, 1909 No. Ill; also by Calmette, "Les venins. les animaux venimaux 

 et la serotherapie antivenimeuse," Paris, Masson, 1907; Calmette. Kolle and "VVas- 

 sermann's Handbuch, Vol. II, p. 1381; with reference to North American snakes, 

 see Prentiss Wilson, Arch. Int. Aled., 1908 (1), 516. 



