240 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



DELEZENNE, 1 who compared its action with that of propeptones. 

 U. Mosso 2 also investigated the properties of this poison. 



Then came the notable work of KossEL 3 and CAMUS and 

 GLEY,* who discovered the solvent action of eels' blood poison 

 upon the blood, and showed that immunity could be produced 

 against it, and that it formed an antitoxine. 



Preparation and Properties of the Poison. CAMUS and GLEY 

 obtained the poisonous serum by taking the blood by means of 

 a sterilised pipette from the aorta of the eel, placing it in a 

 sterilised vessel, and either allowing the serum to separate spon- 

 taneously or with the aid of centrifugal force. They thus 

 obtained about 0-6 c.c. from 100 grms. of the fish. 



The serum has a slight green colour, frequently of a yellowish 

 shade. It can be kept for a long time unaltered if protected 

 from light. 



No attempt has yet been made to prepare the toxic principle 

 of the serum in a pure form. 



U. Mosso showed that it possessed exactly the same physical 

 and chemical properties as all toxines ; that it was destroyed by 

 heat, acids, alkalies, &c. ; that it could resist drying in vacua ; 

 and that it was not dialysable. It was insoluble in alcohol of 

 90 per cent, strength. 



Action of Eels' Blood. The serum of different eels frequently 

 varies considerably in its toxic effects, the season of the year 

 having an influence as well as the origin of the fish, as has also 

 been observed in the case of snake venoms (WEHRMANN 5 ). 



The river eel of the Baltic coast contains, according to SPRING- 

 FELD, 6 a very much weaker toxic serum. 



Different animals also vary in their susceptibility when the 

 poison is introduced in the same way (intravenously). Dogs 



1 Delezenne, "Action du serum d'anguille sur la Coagul. du Sang," 

 Arch. d. Phys., xxix., 646, 1897. 



2 U. Mosso, ' ' Recherches sur le nature du venin, qui se trouve dans le 

 sang de 1'anguille," Arch. Ital. d. BioL, xii., 229, 1889. 



3 Kossel, "Zur Kenntnis der Antitoxin wirkung," Berl. Uin. Woch., 

 1898, 7. 



4 Camus and Gley, notably " Recherches sur 1'action physiolog. de 

 scrum d'anguille, "Arch. Internal, de Pharmacodyn. , v., 247, 1898 (reprint); 

 also "De la toxicite du serum d'anguille pour des animaux des especes 

 differents," Soc. BioL, 1898, 129; "Immunis. centre Faction globulicide, 

 &c.," Comptes Rend., cxxvi., 428, 1898; and "Nouvelles recherches sur 

 1'immunite contre le serum d'anguille," Ann. Past., xiii., 779, 1899. 



5 Wehrmann, "Sur les propr. toxiques du sang, c.," Ann. Past., xi., 

 810, 1897. 



6 Springfeld, "Ueb. d. gift. Wirkung des Blutserums des Flussaals," 

 Dissert. Greifswald, 1889. 



