476 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



probably fed our animals too well. I cannot say that tliey 

 were overfed. 



The venom obtained from the snake was in the cobra of 

 a pale straw colour ; it is of a sticky and gummy con- 

 sistence. The venom of the viper is more watery, and not 

 so yellow. 



Snake venoms are acid in reaction, and that of the cobra 

 is said to have a bitter taste. The amount of solids varies 

 from 12 to 60 per cent., according to the condition of the 

 snake. To keep snake venom, it is necessary to dry it 

 thoroughly, and keep it so. This was done by placing the 

 watch glass containing the venom in a drying chamber of 

 calcium chloride. In twenty-four hours it has usually 

 dried after the fashion of a gum or resin, the film cracking 

 in the same manner ; in some cases a pseudo-crystalline 

 structure may be made out. Cobra venom dries into small 

 irregular lumps, or scales, like a resin or gum, while viper 

 venom gives rise to needle-like pieces, all radiating from 

 the centre of the mass in the watch glass. Venom, after 

 drying, can be readily stored in sealed glass tubes. In 

 these it can be kept almost indefinitely. Professor Weir 

 Mitchell kept some crotalus venom in his possession for 

 22 years without apparent diminution in toxic power. 



Solutions of venom in glycerine also keep well, but 

 those in water rapidly deteriorate. 



It has long been known that snake venoms contain proteid 

 bodies in solution, but Weir Mitchell was the first to 

 demonstrate that the toxic properties of crotalus venom 

 resided in these albuminous bodies. 



It is rather a difficult thing to classify these bodies, this 

 being determined by their solubility in water, or dilute 

 saline solutions, coagulation by heat, or precipitation by 

 alcohol. From their retaining their solubility after pro- 

 longed sojourn under alcohol, and the fact that they 



