No. 420.] PROOF OF BLOOD-RELA TIONSHIP. IOIQ 
EA than if the fibrin be removed. Control experiments 
with superheated serum show that the dissolving, which does 
at length occur, is not due to the action of bacteria developed 
in the serum. On the contrary, the dissolving power of the 
serum is inhibited by the increase of bacteria. 
Thus far the dissolving action of serum has been demon- 
strated only among vertebrates. So far as tried, the blood of 
invertebrates (Cancer, Arenicola, sea- urchin) has no globulicidal 
effect upon the erythrocytes of vertebrates (gull, rat). Among 
cold-blooded vertebrates the action is so slow as to be best 
observed under the microscope. Only the serum of Anguilla 
acted so rapidly as to make macroscopic observation easy. It 
was noted that sera which are particularly poisonous, such as 
the serum of Anguilla, the domestic fowl, and cat, act most 
rapidly upon corpuscles. This suggests that both effects are 
due to chemical substances of the same class. 
The serum of Anguilla dissolves the corpuscles of mammals, 
birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and also that of other fishes. 
The blood of Acanthias vulgaris is quickly dissolved by Anguilla 
serum, and so is the blood of other teleosts, as Labrus macu- 
latus. The effect of Anguilla serum upon the blood of other 
Murzenidz was not tried. The serum of Acanthias dissolves 
the erythrocytes of the gull, mouse, and of teleosts (Labrus, 
Anguilla. It is not entirely indifferent toward the blood of 
other elasmobranchs (Raja batis). 
Among Amphibia, Anura are easily distinguished from 
Urodela by difference in blood. Frog corpuscles are dissolved 
by the serum of Anguilla, the gull, and cat. The dissolving 
power of amphibian blood is less in animals that have been 
kept in captivity for some time and poorly fed. 
Among reptiles, the serum of some snakes was found to 
exceed that of amphibians in globulicidal action. Yet more 
powerful is the action of bird serum. This fact is parallel 
to the fact that the serum of birds is especially poisonous to 
other vertebrates. This common quality of the serum of rep- 
tiles and birds is correlated with similarities in anatomical 
structure which have caused reptiles and birds to be classed 
together as Sauropsida. The serum of the domestic fowl- 
