VENOMS IN THE ANIMAL SEBIES 319 



That this venom preserves its toxic properties for more than a 

 year in the dry state was shown by Vulpian, and satisfactory 

 studies of its composition and physiological action have been made 

 by Fornara/ G. Calmels,^ Phisalix and Bertrand,' Schultz,* 

 Proscher/ and S. Faust." 



Toad-venom was prepared by Phisalix and Bertrand in the 

 following manner : Holding the head of one of these batrachians 

 under water, they expressed the contents of the parotid glands with 

 the fingers or with a pair of forceps. They repeated the same 

 operation with a second, and then with a third toad, until they had 

 sufficiently impregnated the water, which serves to dissolve the 

 venom. In this way they obtained an opalescent, acid liquid, which 

 they filtered with a Chamberland candle under a pressure of from 

 four to five atmospheres. There remained on the filter a yellowish 

 substance, with a highly acid reaction and partly soluble in ether 

 and chloroform, while there passed through the pores a clear, 

 reddish, and slightly acid liquid, which on being evaporated left 

 behind a greyish-white precipitate. This precipitate was separated 

 by filtration, washed in water, and redissolved in absolute alcohol 

 or chloroforju. The albuminoid matters were thus separated, and 

 the liquid, after being rendered limpid by filtration, was evaporated 

 away. The substance obtained in this way represents one of the 

 two active principles of the venom. It acts on the heart of the 

 frog, and arrests it in systole. It assumes the appearance of a 

 transparent resin, the composition of which roughly corresponds 

 to the formula C^'^H^^^O^'. It is the bufotalin of Phisalix and 

 Bertrand, and is probably identical with that obtained by S. Faust, 



' Journal de Therapeutique, 1877, p. 929. 



^ Comptes rendus de VAcademie des Sciences, February 25, 1884. 

 ' Archives de Physiologie, 1893, p. 511. 

 ' Archiv fiir mikroskopiache Anatomie, Bd. ii., 1889, p. 57. 

 ' " Zur Kenntniss des Krotengiftes," Bofm. Beitrage, Bd. i., 1901, p. 575. 

 * " Ueber Bufonin und Bufotalin," Leipzig, 1902 ; and Archiv fiir experimen- 

 tale Pathologie und Pharmahologie, December, 1902. 



