154 pnyTOToxi\i< axd zootoxixs 



iotoxins (hemorrhagin) , but it must be taken into consideration that 

 Faust ^' believes tliat the single o-lucosidal poison which he has found 

 in rattlesnake venom is responsible for all the effects of the venom, 

 except the hemao-glutination. [In another place (see "Hemolysis") 

 the nature of the hemolytic agent is discussed.] Venom agglutinin is 

 quite independent of the hemolysin, for it is destroyed by heating to 

 75°-80°, whereas the hemolysin is destroyed only partly at 100°. 

 Agglutinin acts in the absence of serum complement, and therefore 

 is not an amboceptor; it is apparently more like the toxins in its na- 

 ture. The agglutination of the corpuscles does not interfere with 

 their subsequent hemolysis. Michel states that the agglutinin of cobra 

 venom can be separated from the hemolysin and the toxin by means of 

 ultrafiltration through collodion membranes, as the agglutinin exists 

 in larger molecular aggregates.^*'-'' 



The leucocytotoxins were found by Flexner and Noguchi to be 

 quite distinct from the hemolysins, for after saturating all the hemoly- 

 sin with red corpuscles, the venom still shows its efit'eets on the leu- 

 cocytes, which effects consist in cessation of motility and disintegra- 

 tion, affecting particularly the granular cells. The leucocytotoxin, 

 however, resembles the homolysin in that it appears to be an ambo- 

 ceptor. Leucocytes are also agglutinated by venom, possibly by the 

 same agglutinin that acts on the red corpuscles. Serum complement 

 is inactivated in vitro by cobra venom through changes in the globu- 

 lins brought about by the venoms.^^'' 



By saturating venom with either red corpuscles or nerve-cells it 

 was found by these authors that the toxic principle for each is dis- 

 tinct and separate.^*^ Other sorts of cells, however, are able to com- 

 bine, or at least remove some parts of the toxic elements, but to a 

 much less degree. The neurotoxin, like the hemolysin, resembles an 

 amboceptor, and since venom contains no complement, the neurotoxin 

 has first to be supplied with complement by the victim's blood or tis- 

 sues before it can harm the cells. The venoms are not only toxic for 

 mammalian cells, but also for simple unicellular organisms, including 

 bacteria; tadpoles are paralyzed in solutions containing one part of 

 cobra venom per million.^" 



The pronounced hemorrhage-producing projjcrty of serums, partic- 

 ularly that of the rattlesnake, was also found to be due to a specific 

 toxin acting on the endothelium of the capillaries and small veins, and 

 not to the changes in the blood itself, as had formerly been thought. 

 This endotheliotoxin, which Plexiu^r and Noguchi call "hemorrhagin," 

 is quite distinct from the other toxic substances, being destroyed at 



37 Arch. Expor. Patli. ii. I'lunni., 1!)11 (f>4), 244. 

 3«a Conipt. Itoiul. Soc. ]?ioI., l!)lf) (77). ISO. 

 37anirsclif<'Id and Klinj^or. Ilioohem. Zcit., 101;i (70). .SOS. 



38 r5an<r aiuipvcrton slate tliat corpuscles can take up tlie uoiroloxiu. wliicli 

 is soluble ill ^<<Ts and li])oids. 



30 Ban;: aiul-^veiton, I'.ioclieni. Zeit.. I'Hl (.SI), 24:?. 



