ii4 



NA TURE 



[May $\ t 1883 



not an easy matter to pronounce an opinion on the 

 Cucurbitacea and the Composite:, mentioned. The corian- 

 der is a plant of early cultivation in Egypt, being men- 

 tioned by Pliny as one of the best products of the country. 

 The berries and seeds of the juniper (the litter free in 

 consequence of the decomposition of the former) could 

 only have been derived from Syria or the Greek Islands. 

 I carefully compared them with the allied species, including 

 the Abyssinian Juniperus excelsa (which has larger berries 

 and much thicker seeds, to the number of six), and there 

 ■can be no doubt that they belong to J. Phcenicea, L. 

 Kunth had previously determined this species in the 

 collection of Passalacqua. 



Among the fragments of the offerings and repasts 

 found scattered on the floor of the vault of Deir-el-Bahari 

 when it was first inspected by Brugsch Bey (some of the 

 objects had already been disturbed by Arab robbers) 

 was a tuber of Cypcrus esculenlus, L., some specimens of 

 which from ancient Egypt are also preserved in the Berlin 

 Museum. It is common in a wild state, and generally 

 cultivated in the country. 



In bringing this enumeration to a close I have only to 

 mention the finding of a bundle of the grass called Haifa 

 by the Egyptians (not the Hal/a of Tripoli and Algeria), 

 Septochloa bipinnata, Hochst., syn. Era^rostis cynosur- 

 oides, Retz. This bundle probably formed part of an 

 offering representing the productions of the black and 

 fertile soil of the valley of the Nile, of which this grass 

 x-ias a good sample. 



ON THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERS OF THE 

 VENOM OF SERPENTS 



rjRS.WEIR MITCHELL and E. T. Reichart, of Phila- 

 J - y delphia, are now engaged in an inquiry into the 

 chemical composition and characters of snake poison, 

 which promises to yield important results and to supply 

 information long wanted on an aspect of the subject which 

 has made little progress since Prince Louis Lucien Bona- 

 parte published his discovery of an active principle in 

 viper venom, which he considered to be the sole cau^e of 

 its toxic properties, and to which he gave the name of 

 Echidnine or Viperine. He described the mode of sepi- 

 ration of this principle in a paper read before the " Unione 

 dfigli Scienziate Italiani" at Lucca in the year 1843. 



The investigations of Drs. W. Mitchell and Reichart 

 relate chiefly to crotaline snake poison, but include a 

 partial analysis of some dried cobra (colubrine) poison 

 sent to them by Mr. V. Richards from India. 



Difference in the mode of action of the colubrine and 

 viperine virus was pointed out by me many years ago in 

 India, when I observed that viperine poison destroys the 

 coagulability of the blood in animals, causes haemorrhage, 

 and has peculiar effects on the nervous system differing 

 from the cobra's (colubrine) venom, which does not 

 destroy the coagulability of the blood, nor cause so much 

 haemorrhage. 



Dr. Wall of the Bengal Medical Service has added 

 much to our information on the subject, and has defined 

 •the different modes of action of the venom of the prin- 

 cipal Indian poisonous snakes. 



The Philadelphia observers came to the conclusion 

 that the venom of the crotaline snakes with which they 

 have chiefly operated can be subjected to the action of 

 the boiling temperature of water without completely losing 

 its poisonous power. The toxicity of the venom, how- 

 ever, of the Crotalus adamanteus seems to be destroyed 

 by a temperature below 176 F. Mitchell some years 

 ago showed that the venom of Crotalus durissus is not 

 destroyed by boiling, and they remark on the curious fact 

 that the venom of C. adamanteus should thus differ from 

 the venom of other snakes. 



The symptoms caused by the venom of the different 



snakes with which they have operated do not, they say, 

 differ radically save in degree, but there are certain 

 symptoms which they think make it probable that further 

 investigation will enable them to point out certain differ- 

 ences by which it will be possible to discriminate one 

 form of poisoning from the other. This is in accordance 

 with what has already been done by observers in India, 

 and notably by Dr. Wall. 



The investigations of Drs. Weir Mitchell and Reichart 

 so far, lead them to conclude that the poison of the cobra 

 is the most active, next the copperhead, then the moc- 

 casin, and lastly the rattlesnake ; but their researches on 

 this head are not yet complete. 



They are unable to confirm the statement of Gautier of 

 Paris that an alkaloid resembling a ptomaine exists in 

 cobra poison ; or that of Prof. Wolcott Gibbs, that the 

 poison of crotalus yields an alkaloid ; but they have satis- 

 fied themselves that the venom contains three distinct 

 proteid bodies, two of which are soluble in distilled 

 water, one which is not soluble. These bodies have 

 certain properties and reactions, which are detailed in 

 their monograph on the subject. 



Hitherto observers have regarded the venom of dif- 

 ferent snakes as each representing a single poison, but 

 it appears from these researches that, of the three protcids 

 before mentioned, one is analogous to peptone and is 

 a putrefacient poison, another is allied to globulin, and 

 is a most fatal poison, probably attacking the respiratory 

 centres and destroying the power of the blood to clot, 

 while the third resembles albumen, and is probably 

 innocuous. The separation of the two poisons necessi- 

 tates a long and elaborate series of researches, the results 

 of which will be subsequently reported. 



They have also ascertained that the poison of the 

 Rattlesnake [Crotalus adamanteus), Copperhead ( Trigono- 

 cephalus contortrix), and Moccasin ( Toxicopliis piscivorus), 

 are destroyed by bromine, iodine, hydrobromic acid (33 

 per cent ), sodium hydrate, and potassium permanganate. 

 It is to be hoped that these important and valuable re- 

 searches will be continued until the true chemical nature 

 of these poisons be completely made known. 



J. Fayrer 



NOTES 



At a meeting of the subscribers to the Balfour Memorial Fund, 

 held at Cambridge on the 26th inst., it was stated that 8309/. 

 had been promised, all except 100/. of which had been paid. 

 Of this 8078/. hid been invested, yielding an annual income of 

 284/. ioj., which it was hoped further subscriptions would raise 

 to 300/. Among the regulations agreed to were the following : — 

 The income of the fund shall be applied (1) to endow a Student- 

 ship the holder of which shall devote himself to original research 

 in biology, especially animal morphology ; (2) to further by 

 occasional grants of money, original research in the same sub- 

 ject. The Student shall not necessarily be a member of the 

 University, and during his tenure of the Studentship shall devote 

 himself to original biological inquiry, and shall not systematically 

 follow any business or profession or engage in any educational 

 or other work which in the opinion of those charged with the 

 administration of the fund would interfere with his original in- 

 quiries. The place and nature of the studies of the Student shall 

 be subject to the approval of the managers provided that the 

 Student shall be bound to pursue his studies within the University 

 during at least three terms during his tenure of the Studentship, 

 unless the managers shall, with the approval of the Board, dis- 

 pense with this requirement for special reasons. The managers 

 shall take such steps as they may think necessary to satisfy them- 

 selves as to the diligence and progress of the Student, and may 

 require from him any reports or other information on the subject 

 of his studies which they may think desirable. The Student hip 



