VENOM HAEMOLYSIS AND VENOM AGGLUTINATION 



189 



tive effects of a physical nature has already been shown. But it is not at all 

 improbable that these fatty substances have acted as mordants and enabled 

 the interaction of venom and lecithin compounds of proteins to take place, 

 and hence haemolysis. At the same time we must not forget that most normal 

 fatty acids can not take the place of acrylic acids as venom activators; that 

 the inherent haemolytic powers of higher members of the latter acids are 

 nearly 10 times greater than any other acid, organic or mineral; that lower 

 alcohols, which have quite large lecithin-solving property with but little 

 haemolytic power, fail to accelerate venom haemolysis to any marked degree; 

 and finally that mineral as well as organic bases favor slightly if at all the 

 attack of venom on the blood corpuscles. There is one thing which seems to 

 be necessary for the venom-activating property of these acrylic acids and their 

 compounds — that is, the powerful haemolytic quality. It is still undetermined 

 just how far the lipoid solvent property of these acids and soaps is concerned 

 in their inherent haemolytic property and also their venom-activating property. 

 The alterations of physical factors, such as the diminution of the osmotic 

 tension of the nuidal media through the introduction of these particular 

 chemical bodies, may play certain important parts in regard to the bursting 

 of the delicate lipoid-like membrane of the blood corpuscles. 



Gengou l found that sodium citrate when used in 2.1 per cent solution can 

 stop the haemolysis caused by cobra venom and suitable blood serum. This 

 antihaemolytic property is, however, removed by adding sufficient calcium 

 chloride to such mixture. The introduction of the latter salt will cause the 

 formation of calcium citrate and sodium chloride, thus removing the inhibit- 

 ing effect of the soluble citrate from the mixture. Gengou used just enough 

 calcium chloride to remove the citrate soda and did not notice the antihaemo- 

 lytic property of the lime salt. He employed the laked solution of the 

 washed corpuscles of guinea-pig's blood as a venom activator and obtained a 

 similar result in regard to the antihaemolytic action of sodium citrate. 



Table 10. 



Mixture = (i) Washed corpuscles of ox, i drop. (2) 0.4 per cent cobra-venom solu- 

 tion, 0.2 c.c. (3) Fresh guinea-pig serum in doses indicated in the table. (4) Solu- 

 tions of respective chemicals in doses to make up the total quantity of the resulting 

 fluid, 1 c.c. per tube. 



Noguchi compared the antihaemolytic powers of sodium citrate and calcium 

 chloride with cobra venom and was able to confirm Gengou's observations. 



1 Gengou. Compt. rend, de la Soc. de Biol., 1907, LXII, 409. 



