242 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 



within a few hours. Some of the elapine venoms (such as that of Bungarus) 

 act rather slowly and afford opportunities to employ specific antivenin with 

 reasonable expectation of success. 



The strength of the neutralizing power of an antivenin, as tested by mixing 

 the serum with the venom before injection into the susceptible animals, is of 

 course no measure of what the same serum can do when injected into the 

 animal already inoculated with venom. But from results obtained by Cal- 

 mette, Fraser, Martin, Noguchi, and others it is evident that antivenins are 

 able to save the venomized animals by a later administration of a sufficient 

 amount of the serums. The amount of antivenin necessary to neutralize the 

 lethal effects of venom increases with the time which elapses after the injec- 

 tion of venom, and after a certain stage of toxication it is no longer possible 

 to prevent death, even with a large quantity of the serum. 



According to Calmette, his antivenin was able to cure the animal as late 

 as 90 minutes before the time of assured death, provided the venom (cobra) 

 be injected subcutaneously and the antivenin intravenously. 



Fraser has shown that when the venom and antivenin are injected simultane- 

 ously at the same spot the quantity of the latter required is much smaller than 

 when they are injected at opposite sides of the body. He also states that delay 

 in the administration of the serum necessitates the increase of its quantity to 

 save the animal from the same amount of venom. The quantity of antivenin 

 required to neutraUze a definite amount of venom was about 1,000 times 

 more when injected separately at different parts of the body than that required 

 for neutralization of the same quantity of venom in vitro. 1 



C. J. Martin 2 then pointed out that absorption of antivenin follows its 

 subcutaneous injection very slowly. About the same quantity of antivenin 

 necessary to neutrab'ze venom in vitro is capable of doing so when the former 

 is injected into the circulation and the latter subcutaneously. At least 10 or 

 20 times this quantity is required when they are both placed simultaneously 

 under the skin, but in different parts of the body. 



Noguchi's 3 recent investigations on the therapeutic value of the antivenins 

 of Crotalus and Ancistrodon brought out quite different facts from those 

 mentioned in the previous work. He demonstrated that these two anti- 

 venins, especially that of Crotalus, can save the animals even from a moribund 

 condition, as long as they are able to stand on their feet. When 2 minimal 

 lethal doses of venom are injected collapse occurs usually after 3J hours 

 and death takes place about 15 minutes later. If, even at a very critical 

 moment, enough antivenin be injected, the animal quickly recovers, without 

 any general symptoms, after 1 or 2 days. When the venom is injected intra- 

 peritoneally extensive and profuse haemorrhage takes place and the abdominal 



1 Fraser. Nature, 1896, 594. 



2 C. J. Martin. Advisability of administering curative serum by intravenous injection. Intercolon. 



Med. Jour, of Australasia, 1895;, II, 537. Ibid., 1898. Ill, 713. Also C. J. Martin and W. B. 

 Halliburton. Further observations concerning the relation of the toxin and antitoxin of snake 

 venom. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., 1899, LXIV, 88. 

 8 Noguchi. Experiences therapeutiques avec les antivenins (Crotalus adamanteus et Ancistrodon 

 piscivorus). Oversigt over det danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger, 1906, 269. 



