640 THE INTERNAL SECRETIONS AND IMMUNITY. 



were noted. Even the transfusion of all the blood of a dying 

 scorpion-poisoned dog into the vessels of a bled dog caused no 

 serious symptoms, according to Paul Bert. 24 



What is the "nature of the process through which this is 

 accomplished? -It cannot be due to the smallness of the doses 

 employed, since it was the aim of the investigators named to 

 test the question: a fact, in itself, suggesting the use of large 

 quantities of poisonous blood. Again, the toxicity of viper- and 

 cobra- venoms, as previously shown in connection with blood- 

 changes, is exceedingly high. The benign effects were doubt- 

 less due to the attenuation to which the venom had been sub- 

 mitted. It is evident that, since the latter had, in each in- 

 stance, already passed through one animal, it had lost much of 

 its virulence. The dose injected or transfused was, therefore, 

 in no way comparable to the dose received in each case by the 

 first subjects so that, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, it 

 proved insufficient to create an adrenal reaction capable of giv- 

 ing rise to symptoms of poisoning. This confirms the need of a 

 sufficiently great dose of a sufficiently virulent poison to bring 

 about such active phenomena. 



An important point is emphasized by the last of the ex- 

 periments mentioned, Paul Bert's: The transfusion of all the 

 blood of a dying scorpion-poisoned dog into the vessels of a 

 bled dog means that the latter animal must have been bled to 

 a sufficient degree to admit all the blood of the dying dog; in 

 fact, that the greater part of the blood of the former dog 

 even if a larger animal than the scorpion-stung one must have 

 been removed. We therefore have practically an exchange of 

 blood. The animal that received the poisoned blood having 

 suffered no serious symptoms, it follows (1) that the scorpion- 

 venom could not have disorganized this blood: i.e., caused direct 

 "hamiolysis" ; (2) that, on the contrary, it was the blood which 

 had disorganized the venom. It is obvious that, had the blood 

 of the first dog been injured chemically or morphologically to 

 any marked extent, the second dog would not have fared as it 

 did. 



We are thus again made to fully realize the important fact, 



2* Paul Bert: Societ6 de Biologie, August 8, 1885. 



