150 PEYTOTOxiyn axd zootoxins 



Much work has been done upon the nature of the constituents of 

 venom. As early as 1843 Prince Lucien Bonaparte found that there 

 were proteins in the venom, which was corroborated by ]\Iitchell in 

 1861. In 1888 Mitchell and Reichert described two poisonous pro- 

 tein constituents of venom, one of wliich was eoagulable by heat and 

 seemed to be a globulin; the other resembled the proteoses (they 

 called it "peptone," according- to the nomenclature of that time). 

 To the globulin they ascribed the local, irritating properties of venom ; 

 to the albumose, the systemic intoxication. Corresponding to their 

 action, venoms of different serpents were found to vary greatly in the 

 proportions of these proteins. Cobra venom, which acts chiefly sys- 

 temieally, contains 98 per cent, of albumose and but 2 per cent, of 

 globulin; rattlesnake venom, with its marked local effects, contains 

 25 per cent, of the irritating globulin ; moccasin venom contains 8 

 per cent, of globulin. Several other observers soon corroborated the 

 main facts of Mitchell and Reichert 's report; but, as has been seen in 

 connection with the consideration of the composition of enzymes, tox- 

 ins, etc., the fact that a substance is carried down with a protein is 

 no proof that it is itself a protein. What has been established is 

 merely that the irritating component of venom can be destroyed by 

 heat, and is removed with the globulin in fractional separation ; while 

 there remains a substance not destroyed by boiling, which comes down 

 at least in part with the albumoses of the venom, and causes chiefly 

 systemic manifestations. 



Since venoms act as antigens and stimulate the formation of spe- 

 cific antibodies, it is to be presumed that the poisonous principles 

 are proteins, or toxalbumins, although this conclusion does not neces- 

 sarily follow. Faust -^ believes the poison of venoms not to be pro- 

 teins, but glucosides, free from nitrogen, resembling very much quil- 

 lajic acid, and therefore belonging to the saponin group of hemolytic 

 agents. He has isolated such a substance from cobra venom, which 

 he calls ophiotoxin (C^-HooOio), and from rattlesnake venom a sub- 

 stance which seems to be a polymer of the ophiotoxin, (C.54H-4O21). 

 Possibly these glucosides are bound to proteins, forming compound 

 proteins which act as specific antigens. According to this work the 

 snake venoms and the dermal poisons of toads and frogs are all closely 

 related substances. 



Enzymes in Venoms. — As venom causes raiiid liquefaction of tissues 

 into wliich it is injected, Flexner and Nognclii -" tested crotalus and 

 cobra venom for proteases, and found that tliey digested nuiscle rap- 

 idly, and also gelatin and unboiled fibrin ; whereas boiled fibrin and 

 boiled egg-albumen were undigested. Kinases are also present in 

 venoms (Delezeime). Wchrmann -'' found that venom digests fibrin 



2"' Arch. cixp. Patli. u. IMianii., 100" (.^fi). 2M); 1011 (('.4), '244. 

 2<i Univ. of Ponii. Med. l?ull.. 1002 (15), .'{(JO. 

 27 Ann. d. I'Inat. rasteur, 1808 (12), .510. 



