December 26, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



981 



eny is a condensed phylogeny. . . . The mind 

 as it is to-day, like the body as it is to-day, 

 can only be adequately understood in the light 

 of its developmental history throughout the 

 ages of the past. . . . The fields of compara- 

 tive theology and comparative mythology, of 

 folklore and fairy tales, are rich in material of 

 very practical significance in our present-day 

 problems. . . . Mental disease in its destruc- 

 tive results brings the individual back to 

 primitive and archaic methods of reaction, — 

 reactions which may be better understood 

 when we have studied the mind of primitive 

 man and seen there what they mean." It is 

 'Certainly satisfactory to psychologists and 

 anthropologists to find their subjects thus en- 

 listing the interest and cooperation of a large 

 tody of physicians, and the only apprehension 

 is that the psychoanalytic method, applied in 

 the armchair to the records of primitive man, 

 may appear to the working anthropologist as 

 somewhat lacking in directness and thorough- 



E. S. WOODWORTH 



Columbia University 



The Venom of Heloderma. By Leo Loeb. 



Few portions of the world where reptiles 

 occur at all are without some species of ser- 

 pent venomous enough to be dangerous to hu- 

 man beings. The nature and mode of action 

 ■of the poison of various serpents has, there- 

 fore, been of much practical interest and has 

 attracted the serious attention of investiga- 

 tors in many lands. Nearly all lizards, on the 

 contrary, are harmless. Indeed, the only spe- 

 cies known to be venomous are the two kinds 

 of Gila monsters found in Mexico and on our 

 own southwestern deserts of New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona and Nevada. Perhaps because of its 

 more purely scientific interest, the venom of 

 these lizards has received comparatively little 

 study. The only careful investigations have 

 been by Mitchell and Reichert, Santesson, 

 Van Denburgh and Wight. While these au- 

 thors have agreed as to the deadly nature of 

 the venom of these lizards they have differed 

 in many points as regards its mode of action. 



In a paper of some two hundred and forty- 



four pages issued by the Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington^ one finds a series of articles 

 in which are set forth the results of investiga- 

 tions of the poison glands and venom of the 

 poisonous lizards of the genus Heloderma. 

 These articles are by Leo Loeb and a large 

 number of collaborators who made use of the 

 Laboratory of Experimental Pathology of the 

 University of Pennsylvania. 



The anatomy and histology of the poison 

 glands are described and it is stated that 

 Heloderma horridum has the same anatom- 

 ical arrangement as has been described in 

 the case of H. suspectum. It is shown tliat 

 pilocarpine increases the flow of venom and 

 that transplanted portions of the gland re- 

 tain their toxic character. Venom was not 

 found in the blood or organs of Heloderma, 

 except in the poison glands. It would thus 

 appear that the venom is formed in these 

 glands, not selected and excreted by them, 

 and that there is no internal secretion of 

 venom. 



Gila monster venom affects mainly the cen- 

 tral nervous system, and death is mainly due 

 to paralysis of the respiratory center. There 

 is a marked primary fall in blood-pressure of 

 vasomotor origin. Diminution in the flow of 

 urine is merely the result of the decrease in 

 blood-pressure. Structural changes in the 

 tissues of the poisoned animal are very slight, 

 but extravasations of blood sometimes occur. 



Gila monster venom is stated to cause 

 hemolysis only in the presence of some acti- 

 vator such as lecithin and certain blood sera. 

 It has no cytolytic power except upon the 

 erythrocytes. 



Heloderma is immune to its own venom. 

 That is not due to the presence of antitoxin 

 in its circulation. 



Dr. Alsberg " succeeded in obtaining the 

 Heloderma venom in a state in which it no 

 longer gave the biuret reaction, thus proving 



1 ' ' The Venom of Heloderma, ' ' by Leo Loeb, 

 with the collaboration of Carl L. Alsberg, Eliza- 

 beth Cook, Ellen P. Corson White, Moyer S. 

 Fleisher, Henry Fox, T. S. Githens, Samuel Leo- 

 pold, M. K. Meyers, M. E. Eehfuss, D. Rivas and 

 Lueius Tuttle, Washington, D. C, May 10, 1913. 



