THE PHYSIOLOGY OF POISONING 203 



C. — Effects of Venom upon the White Cobpuscles : Lbucolysin. 



The white corpuscles themselves do not escape the action of 

 venom. It is possible in vitro to prove this action upon leucocytic 

 exudations obtained, e.g., by injecting sterilised cultures of Bacillus 

 megatherium into the pleura or peritoneum of the rabbit. After 

 a few hours this exudation is removed by means of capillary tubes, 

 and, on mixing these with weak doses of venom, we see, in the 

 course of a microscopic examination, that the large mononuclear 

 cells are the first to be dissolved, then the polynuclears, and lastly 

 the lymphocytes. The leucolysis is much more intense and more 

 rapid with Co&ra-venom than with that of Crotalus (Flexner and 

 Noguchi, Noc). 



