GENERAL PEOPERTIES AND ACTIONS OF THE VENOM. 75 



The post-mortem appearances were essentially the same in both animals. 

 There was a slight amount of gelatinous exudate on the visceral peritoneum 

 where the collodion sacs had been in contact with the intestines. The peri- 

 toneum elsewhere was smooth and not injected. The intestines contained 

 considerable quantities of fluid and the stomach showed several small hemor- 

 rhagic and ulcerated areas. 



The collodion sacs in both cases contained at the time of the autopsy con- 

 siderably less fluid than had been put into them at the beginning of the experi- 

 ment. It was, however, definitely shown that some venom still remained 

 inside the capsules. They were washed out with sodium-chloride solution and 

 various quantities of the solution were injected into mice. It is impossible to 

 state exactly how much venom was found in the sacs, but the quantity was 

 sufficient to kill some of the injected mice. In the case in which 24 mg. of 

 venom had been put into the capsule, approximately 3 mg. were found at the 

 end of the experiment; while in the other case only a very small quantity, pos- 

 sibly 0.02 c.c, of venom was recovered (about one-twentieth of the amount 

 originally introduced) . 



Of 8 rabbits, 2 received one capsule (1 of these later received three cap- 

 sules), 2 received two capsules, 3 received three capsules, and 1 received four 

 capsules. 



The first of the animals, receiving in one capsule 30 mg. of venom, died 9 

 days after the operation. The other rabbit received in one capsule 50 mg. of 

 venom, but did not die; 25 days after the first capsule had been placed in its 

 peritoneal cavity, it received three more capsules, each containing 0.3 c.c. of 

 fresh venom. The animal died 2 hours after these last capsules had been 

 placed in the peritoneal cavity. 



The three animals with two capsules received each 60 mg. of venom, 30 

 mg. being in each capsule. One of these animals died 5 days afterwards, 

 another in 2 weeks, while the third survived. 



In the experiments in which three capsules were placed in the peritoneal 

 cavity each capsule contained 0.3 c.c. of fresh venom, each rabbit receiving 0.9- 

 c.c. of venom. One of these animals died in 40 hours, the others in 18 hours. 



One rabbit, given four capsules each containing 0.3 c.c. of venom, died in 

 about 12 hours. 



All of the animals which survived the administration of venom for several 

 days or weeks showed a marked loss of weight, which amounted in some cases 

 to as much as one-third of the original body-weight; otherwise, they showed 

 no symptoms of the poisoning, as they were usually active and their appetites 

 continued good. Death usually occurred suddenly. In a period of a few 

 hours the animal would develop weakness and prostration and death would 

 follow rapidly. Evidently a gradual accumulation of venom takes place in the 

 animal organism. The animals which died shortly after the capsules had been 

 placed in the peritoneal cavity showed signs of weakness soon after the opera- 

 tion. Prostration and dyspnea appeared rapidly and the animals appeared to 

 die as a result of respiratory failure. 



