"habu" venom and its serum therapy. 



Table 7. 



159 



Temperature at which a 1 per cent so- 

 lution of the venom was heated for 

 30 minutes. 



Dose (dried venom) needed 

 in lakingr 1 cc. of the wash- 

 ed blood cells of dog. 



With serum. 



Without 

 serum. 



60° . 



Gram. 

 0. 0000001 

 0. 000002 

 0. 00002 



Gram. 

 0. 000] 

 0. 0003 

 0.001 



70° ...' _ _ _ - 









0. 0000001 



0. 00001 





Although the hemolytic action is diminished after the solution has 

 been heated for thirty minutes at 60 °C, it is interesting to note that 

 this temperature affects only the venom acting on serum-free corpuscles, 

 and the addition of serum restores the power completely. Therefore, 

 the diminution in strength is of a superficial nature, only in part 

 affecting the constitution of venom. Those specimens which were 

 heated for thirty minutes at 70°C and 80°C. exhibited a similar ten- 

 dency, although with progressive decrease of power. The venom was 

 wholly destroyed at 90° C, after which treatment it failed to act even 

 in the presence of serum. This phenomenon was shown most clearly 

 when experiments were made with the blood corpuscles of the horse. 

 The following table shows the haemolysis produced in the blood cor- 

 puscles of a horse, with heated and unheated venom, the decimals 

 representing the hemolytic dose required to dissolve 1 cubic centimeter 

 of a 5 per cent suspension of horse's red blood corpuscles. 



Venom. 



Hemolytic dose of venom. 



Ye-™r With scrum. 



Heated for 30 minutes at 60° C 



Gram. 

 0. 0003 

 0. 000005 



Gram. 

 0. 000003 

 0. 000001 





The presence or absence of serum does not influence the action of 

 venom upon the red blood corpuscles of guinea pigs, the strength of the 

 venom gradually disappearing as the temperature is raised. 



