258 C. J. MARTIN AND J. McGARVIE SMITH. 
intestine. This membrane was much thinner than the sausage 
skins made of sheep’s-gut or vegetable parchment, and hence 
allowed diffusion to proceed at a more rapid rate. 
The skin containing the solution of venom and a crystal of 
thymol was suspended in a vessel through which a gentle stream 
of distilled water passed. After twenty-four hours the contents 
of the skin had become turbid, and at the end of forty-eight hours 
a sticky precipitate adhered to the inside of the tube. The con-— 
tents were then turned into a test-tube and centrifugalized, the 
supernatant clear fluid pippetted off and placed in a new dialysing 
tube of the same material, together with a crystal of thymol. The 
contents of this second tube were dialysed in distilled water for 
between three and four weeks. At the end of this time, a few 
drops gave no cloudiness when allowed to stand over Mg. SO, 
crystals for twenty-four hours. The dialyser, however, contained 
a small quantity of proteid in solution, which coagulated on heating, 
The whole of the remaining solution was concentrated to 3 c.c. 
by warming at 40° C., 2:5.¢.c. of which was injected into the 
jugular vein of a small guinea-pig, and the remainder soaked up 
by a small piece of sponge which was placed in the abdominal 
wall, in the manner described below. The solution produced 
neither local nor general effect. These experiments point to the 
innocence of the contained albumens. 
To sum up, we find Black snake venom contains the following 
proteids—albumin in small quantity : hetero-albumose and proto- 
albumose in considerable amount: with perhaps a trace of deutero- 
albumose. 
Note.—In every case of dialysis a crystal of thymol was added 
to the fluid to prevent decomposition. The various filtrations 
were much facilitated by the adoption of the method of Fessenden* 
by whose arrangement of folding the paper, not only does one 
‘dispense with a funnel, but in no part is the paper double or triple, 
so that the whole surface of the filter paper is utilised. | 
* Chem. News, Vol. Lx., pp. 166. 
