568 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 30^- 



most puzzling and frequent use (one parenthesis 

 to every two and a half lines) of the parenthesis, 

 and some slight notion of the extreme Teutonic 

 character of this valuable pamphlet vpOI be ob- 

 tained. Joseph Jastrow. 



THE VENOMS OF POISONOUS SERPENTS. 

 The experimental work which forms the basis 

 for this valuable contribution to science was carried 

 on in the physiological laboratory of the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania. The reputation of its 

 authors is such as to make it a standard work of 

 reference. It brings our knowledge of the com- 

 position and effects of the venoms of serpents up 

 to the present time, and we surmise that many 

 years vvill elapse before the results recorded will 

 be modified to any great degree. The subject is 

 one, which, while it is full of interest to the 

 reader, must nevertheless have been one involv- 

 ing no inconsiderable danger to the experimenters. 

 To have handled two hundred living venomous 

 serpents, one of them eight and a half feet long, 

 weighing nineteen pounds, and furnishing one 

 and a half di'ams of venom, cannot have been a 

 very delightful task ; and those who were willing 

 to undertake it must have been enthusiastic in- 

 vestigators, as indeed we know they were. The 

 serpents upon which the experiments were per- 

 formed included rattlesnakes (Crotalus adaman- 

 tus and C. durissus), moccasons (Ancistrodon pisci- 

 vorus), ground rattlesnakes, copperheads, and 

 coral-snakes. The venom of the cobra was ob- 

 tained from India, while all efforts to obtain the 

 poison of the Indian viper (Dabsia Russellii) were 

 unsuccessful. The authors started with the theory , 

 long held by Dr. Mitchell, that snake- venoms are 

 not simple in composition, but are composed of 

 two or more poisonous substances, and that in the 

 qualities and quantities of these agents would be 

 found an explanation of the differences between 

 serpent- venoms as to power to kill and mode of 

 causing death. All fresh serpent- venoms are 

 more or less alike in appearance, being fluids vary- 

 ing from the palest amber tint to a deep yellow. 

 When a drop of the fresh venom of the C. ada- 

 manteus Avas examined under the microscope with 

 a Jj Zeiss, homog. immersion lens (amplification, 

 800 diameters), in addition to oval nucleated red 

 blood-coi-puscles, leucocytes, and club-shaped epi- 

 thelial cells, certain colorless particles are seen, 

 some larger and of an albuminous character, 

 others smaller. Some of these particles resemble 

 bacteria, but are not : they do not multiply in 

 cultures nor stain with the aniline dyes. In ad- 



Researches upon the venoms of poisonous serpents. By 

 S. Weib Mitchell and E. T. Reichebt. Wa-sliington, Smiths 

 sonian inst., 18S6. 



dition to these, there are, however, bacteria in 

 fresh venom of a micrococcus form. Although 

 careful search was made for ptomaines, none were 

 found. An insoluble precipitate was obtained, 

 which does not seem to have been recognized, 

 and, vs^hen injected into pigeons, produced no 

 toxic effect. Certain globulins were also obtained 

 from the venom, to which the writers have affixed 

 the names of water-venom-globulin, copper-venom- 

 globulin, and dialysis-venom-globulin, from the 

 method by which they were obtained. In addi- 

 tion to the globulms, peptones were also obtained. 

 The differences in the proportions of the various 

 globulins and peptones in different venoms are of 

 immense importance in affording an explanation 

 of the physiological peculiarities exhibited in 

 poisoning by different species of snakes. The pro- 

 portion of globulins in Crotalus is over three times 

 the quantity in the Ancistrodon, and nearly fifteen 

 times that in the cobra. The investigation, which 

 has continued over a period of several years, in- 

 cluded a study of the effects of various agents on 

 venom, the effects of venom when applied to 

 mucous and serous surfaces, their effects on the 

 nervous system, and a comparison of globulins 

 and peptones as regards their local poisonous 

 activity. The action of venoms and their isolated 

 globulins and peptones upon the pulse-rate, upon 

 arterial pressure, and upon respiration, was 

 thoroughly examined. Elaborate experiments 

 were made with filtered venom, and with cultures 

 for the study of the morphology of the bacteria 

 contained in the venom. The anatomical changes 

 produced in the animals experimented upon were 

 carefully studied and recorded. The conclusions 

 to which the authors arrive, as the result of their 

 patient and laborious investigation, are, I'', that 

 venoms bear in some respects a strong resemblance 

 to the saliva of other vertebrates ; 2°, that the 

 active principles of venom are contained in its 

 liquid parts only ; 3°, that venoms may be dried 

 and preserved indefinitely with but little impair- 

 ment of then toxicity ; 4°, that there probably 

 exist in all venoms representatives of two classes 

 of proteids, globulins and peptones, which con- 

 stitute their toxic elements ; 5°, that potassic per- 

 manganate, ferric chloride in the form of the 

 liquor or tincture, and tincture of iodine, seem to 

 be the most active and promising of the generally 

 available local antidotes. The fact that the active 

 principles of venoms are proteids, and closely re- 

 lated chemically to elements normally existing 

 in the blood, renders almost hopeless the search 

 for a chemical antidote which can prove available 

 after the poison has reached the circulation, since 

 it is obvious that we cannot expect to discover 

 any substance, which, when placed in the blood 



