EFFECTS OF VARIOUS AGENTS ON VENOM. 



25 



Experiment— The same, excepting that the temperature was raised to 79.5° C. 



4:12. Injected as above. 

 4:21. Unable to stand. 

 4:25. Dead. 

 Experiment.— -The same, solution being brought to boiling point in a test-tube. 

 4:45. Injected into the breast muscles of a pigeon. 

 5:00. Unable to stand. 

 5:03. Convulsions followed by death. 



Experiment— 0.015 gram dried venom dissolved in 1 c. c. distilled water and 

 boiled in a test-tube for about two minutes. 



3:51. Injected into the breast muscles of a pigeon. 

 4:15. Unable to stand. 

 4:22. Dead. No local effects. 

 From these experiments it appears that the toxicity of venom is not impaired by 

 brief heating as high as 79.5° C, the time of death being in these experiments 

 about the same as with the unheated solution. In the last two experiments in 

 which the solution was boiled, the time of death is delayed, especially so in the last 

 experiment, but here it must be observed that but one-half the dose was used. 1 



In one experiment made on the venom of the Copperhead (Ancistrodon contor- 

 trix) the effect seemed to be in degree between that of the Grot us, and Ancistrodon 



piscivorus. 



Experiment— -0:03 gram dried venom was dissolved in 1 c. c. distilled water and 



boiled in a test-tube for two minutes. 



5:00. Injected into the breast muscles of a pigeon. 

 5:10. Unable to stand. 

 5:20. Incoordination. 

 6:00. Very weak. 



Following morning. Dead. There were very slight local effects; the blood was clotted in 



soft black clots; heart arrested in systole, auricles full of clots. The interior of the thoracic 



cavity had a mucky brownish appearance ; the viscera did not appear congested, and there 



were no ecchymoses. 



A similar dose of the unheated copperhead venom kills promptly with decided 



local effects. It will thus be apparent that boiling decidedly alters its toxic power. 



The effect of boiling on the venom of the Grptalophorus is as decided as on that 



of the Crotalus. 



Experiment. — Two drops of the fresh venom of the Crotalophorus was dissolved 

 in 1 c. c. distilled water and boiled for a moment. 

 4:58. Injected into the breast muscles of a pigeon. 



6:15. In good condition; no symptoms up to this time, excepting a little tendency to 

 droop. 



Following evening. Animal normal. 



The venom of the Coral snake (Elaps fidvius) is affected to a less degree. 



1 Very prolonged boiling, as has been shown by Fayrer and by Ward, lessens greatly, and at 

 last destroys toxicity in cobra venom. The efficient cobra peptone is, as we have seen, converted 

 into a coagulable albuminoid, which is then incapable of destroying life. 



4 April, 1886. 



