SNAKE TOXINES. 213 



characteristic of all haptines. It is an important point that the 

 poison of the blood of the cobra is much more sensitive to heat 

 than the saliva poison, since it is rendered inactive even after 

 ten minutes at 68 C. (CALMETTE and DELEARDE l ). 



Faradic currents have no influence upon it, but continuous 

 currents have a destructive effect in a solution containing sodium 

 chloride, owing to the electrolysis and production of chlorine. 

 Viper venom, however, is said to be injured by currents of high 

 intensity (PmsALix). 



The toxine appears to resist the action of dilute phenol, mer- 

 curic chloride (1 : 1000), copper sulphate, iodine, potassium 

 iodide, alcohol, ether, chloroform, and essential oils. Ammonia, 

 even in large doses, does not injure it until after a long time 

 (KANTHACK). This highly-valued remedy has thus no action, at 

 all events, upon the poison itself. The poison of Vipera aspis 

 remained active for twenty years in a specimen of the snake pre- 

 served in spirit (MAisoNNEUVE 2 ). 



A 1 per cent, solution of potassium permanganate, however, 

 had a destructive effect upon the venom, and almost invariably 

 saved the animal when injected into the same place immediately 

 after the poisoning ; but even after the lapse of a short time the 

 injection had no effect, as was also the case when the permangan- 

 ate was introduced at another place, even into the veins, or in 

 the immediate vicinity of the point of inoculation. Calcium 

 chloride, too, has an injurious influence on the poison (PmsALix 

 and BERTRAND 3 ). Gold chloride has a still more pronounced 

 action, but platinum chloride has no effect. 



A 1 per cent, solution of gold chloride destroys the activity of the poison 

 even when present in a very slight proportion. It also affords protection 

 when introduced at other places, even against fairly large doses, and also 

 for a short time after the poisoning. CALMETTE proposed to use this pro- 

 perty of gold chloride for therapeutic purposes, but these results have been 

 superseded by his own discoveries of an active immunisation and serum 

 therapy. 



A series of very interesting experiments showed that snake 

 poison was greatly influenced by certain substances that were 

 quite inert in themselves, to which PmsALix, 4 in particular, has 



1 Calmette and Dele"arde, " Sur les toxines non microbiennes," Ann. 

 Past., x., 675, 1896. 



2 Maisonneuve, " Longue conservation de la virulence du venin des 

 Serpents," Comptes Rend., cxxiii., 513, 1896. 



3 Phisalix and Bertrand, Soc. BioL, xlvii., 443, 1895. 



4 Phisalix, " La tyrosine vaccine chimique du venin du vipere," Comptes 

 Rend., cxxvi., 431; id., "Les sues de champignons contre le venin du 

 vipere," ibid., cxxvii., 1036, 1898. 



