"habu" venom and its serum therapy. 163 



ization of venom with serum. If the mixture is injected immediately 

 after it is prepared, the free venom will often kill the animal and there- 

 fore, in every ease it is allowed to stand for, thirty minutes. Even 

 then, the results obtained are not perfectly uniform, for occasionally 

 an animal receiving a large quantity of serum dies, while the one which 

 receives less serum survives. This is due to the wide differences in 

 individual susceptibility. Therefore, the standardization of the serum 

 should be repeated over and over again. I employed mice or guinea 

 pigs in the experiment, because the abundant supply of these animals 

 gives facilities for making a wide series of experiments with a great 

 number of animals. Five one-hundredths cubic centimeter of the im- 

 mune serum prepared by me neutralizes 0.05 cubic centimeter of a 

 1 per cent solution of venom ; that is, a certain quantity of serum 

 neutralizes the same volume of a 1 per cent solution of venom. Some- 

 times serum with double this power was obtained but it was exceptional. 

 I found that antiserum prepared by Calmette had no effect on habu 

 venom, while ten immunization units of antitetanus serum could neu- 

 tralize 0.0001 gram of venom. Again, the antihabu serum was observed 

 to have no power over the poison of the common Japanese viper. 



THERAPY. 



Antihabu serum has been tried upon a number of cases in Amami, 

 Oshima, and Eiukiu since 1905. In most cases the serum has been 

 distributed among the practitioners of the islands gratis. They are 

 required to report the result. 



A habu discharges, under natural circumstances, 0.3 cubic centimeter 

 to 0.5 cubic centimeter of poison, equaling about 0.1 gram of the dried 

 venom. This dose will be neutralized by 10 cubic centimeter of serum; 

 however, for curative uses, the dose must be increased to a considerable 

 degree, as the venom is usually introduced several hours before the 

 immune serum is injected. At present 40 cubic centimeters of serum 

 are put in a bottle as a curative dose for one case. In a chronic case, 

 twice the dose or more is used. The injection is made near the bite, 

 which is incised slightly, washed and dressed in the usual manner. 



One hundred and eighteen patients were treated with serum of whom 

 five died, making a death rate of 4.2 per cent. Further, of these five 

 deaths, one received 40 cubic centimeters of serum after three hours 

 had elapsed after the bite had been received and the patient died in a 

 few minutes after the injection was made. We may safely exclude this 

 case from the above figures and then the death rate becomes as small 

 as 3.4 per cent. Of the remaining four deaths, one case expired of 

 weakness arising from loss of blood, another of pyaemia in six days, while 

 another succumbed in nine days, and the remaining one died in sixteen 

 hours. 



Appended is a sample of the reports, which are made upon the 

 printed form packed with each bottle of serum : 



