222 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



PHISALIX and BERTRAND l found that the poisonous serum of 

 the common viper or adder lost its toxic, but not its immunising 

 power when heated for fifteen minutes at 58 C., and that the 

 venom of Vipera aspis behaved in a similar way when heated for 

 some minutes at 75 to 90 C. The same investigators found 

 that poison weakened by high-tension currents (vide sit/pro) could 

 still produce immunity. 



By the aid of more accurate quantitative experiments on the 

 lines devised by EHRLICH, MYERS 2 has detected toxoids in cobra 

 hsemolysine. 



FLEXNER and NOGUCHI (loc. cit.) observed an unmistakable 

 formation of toxoids in cobra venom that had been allowed to 

 stand for three weeks. The lethal dose rose from 0*1 to 0*4 

 mgrm., while there was no appreciable decrease in the dose of 

 antitoxine required for neutralisation, four lethal doses being 

 used as the standard poison. Hence, protoxoids are formed. 

 The same process occurred still more rapidly in an incubating 

 oven, the lethal dose increasing tenfold in nineteen days, 

 although, in addition to the formation of toxoids, there was 

 also a partial decomposition. On the other hand, pepsin and 

 papain completely destroyed the poison without any formation 

 of toxoids. 



The Hsemolysine of Snake Poisons. The analogy between 

 snake poisons and vegetable toxines, and in particular the poison 

 of eels' blood, also extends to the activity in vitro of their 

 hsemolytic function. 



Many snake poisons also act hsemolytically in vivo, for it 

 was observed long ago by FONTANA that the intravenous in- 

 jection of vipers' venom into rabbits produced coagulations, 

 &c.; while, on the other hand, the blood of animals that have 

 died from the poison becomes incoagulable, as was recorded 

 by FAYRER and LAUDER-BRUNTON, 3 ALBERTONI (Joe. cit.), and 

 others, and confirmed by Mosso (he. cit.), as regards the venom 

 of the viper. 



In the case of the latter there is also a formation of methsemo- 

 globin as a secondary product due to the action of an oxydase ; 

 this does not occur in the case of cobra hsemolysine (PHISALIX 4 ). 



and Bertrand, "Att&mation du venin de vipere par la 

 chaleur," Comptes Rend., cxviii., 288, 1894. 



2 Myers, "The Interaction of Toxine and Antitoxine, " Journ. of PathoL, 

 vi., 415, 1900. 



3 Fayrer and Lauder-Brunton, " On the Nature of the Poison of Naja 

 tripiidians, &c.," Proc. Roy. Soc., xxi., 371, 1873; xxii., 68, 1874. 



4 Phisalix, "Action du venin de vipere," Soc. Biol., liv., No. 27, 1902. 



