THE MODE OF ACTION OF COBRA VEXOM. 301 



amboceptor is only a key which makes possible the entrance of the 

 complement into cell. For in these cases the complements which 

 are able to destroy the blood-cell are already present within the 

 same before the amboceptor is anchored, and yet the blood-cell is 

 in no way injured. The injury takes place only when a particular 

 organic relation has been effected between complement and protoplasm 

 by means of the amboceptor. 



Finally, the demonstration that the red blood-cells contain com- 

 plementing substances is exceedingly important in other directions. 

 The French school in particular was inclined to refer the source of 

 the complements exclusively to the leucocytes. We now see that 

 the red blood-cells, heretofore considered merely as concerned with 

 the oxygen exchange, are also carriers of special complement-like 

 substances. This confirms the view expressed by Ehrlich 1 in his 

 "Schlussbetrachtungen," namely, that "the red blood-discs also 

 exercise other functions hitherto overlooked." "The red blood-cells 

 serve as storage centres in the sense that they temporarily take up 

 into themselves substances characterized by the presence of hapto- 

 phore groups and derived from the internal metabolism or from the 

 food." 



III. Cobra Venom and Lecithin. 



Having demonstrated that the amboceptor of snake poison can 

 be complemented by easily destructible complements which may be 

 present either in the serum or in the red blood-cells, we go on to a 

 series of other phenomena in which activation is effected by more 

 stable substances which are in no way related to the complements. 

 Calmette, 2 in following up the work of Flexner and Noguchi, found 

 that certain normal sera when heated to 62 C. became much better 

 able, in conjunction with cobra poison, to cause haemolysis of the 

 washed blood-cells. In fact it was found that fresh sera, added hi 

 large excess, can retard or even inhibit haemolysis, while these same 

 sera when heated cause immediate solution of the blood-cells in the 

 presence of cobra poison. From this Calmette concludes that such a 

 blood serum must contain a natural antihsemolysin which can pro- 

 tect the red blood-cells up to a certain point against solution by the 



1 In Nothnagel's Specielle Pathologic und Therapie, Vol. 8. Vienna, 1901. 



2 I.e. 



