Scientific Proceedings. 



107 



This influence is slow to wear off after the application but seems 

 generally to favor the later activity of the muscle — in other words, 

 it is conserving in character. Magnesium appears to be the ele- 

 ment to which we may look with most reason when seeking an 

 agent that shall suspend katabolic changes without permanently 

 damaging living structures. It is clearly less hurtful than potas- 

 sium in like concentration. Comparison of magnesium with potas- 

 sium shows that the former is not so distinctly the antagonist of 

 calcium as is the latter. It also seems probable that the power to 

 mediate vagus inhibition which Howell fixed upon potassium is 

 a unique property of that element and not shared by magnesium. 



74 (217) 



On the extracellular and intracellular venom activators, with 

 special reference to lecithin, fatty acids and their compounds. 



By HIDEYO NOGUCHI. 



[From the Rockefeller Instittite for Medical Research^ 



Calcium chloride stops venom hemolysis caused in the presence 

 of oleic acid or soluble oleate soaps, but not that induced by leci- 

 thin. In the majority of serums, including those of man, horse, 

 guinea pig, rabbit, cat, rat, hen, pigeon and goose, there exist 

 greater or less amounts of venom activators, and they can be com- 

 pletely inactivated by calcium chloride. Judging from the fact 

 that lecithin in an available form is not affected by this salt it is 

 not likely that these serums owe their venom activating property 

 to lecithin. As these activators are also extractable with ether 

 they probably are nothing else than certain fatty acids, and, prob- 

 ably, soluble soaps. Dog's serum is an exception to this, and 

 contains, besides fatty acids and soaps, also activators of the nature 

 of lecithin, for calcium chloride fails to stop completely its venom 

 activating property. This lecithin-like activator is not extractable 

 with ether, but is precipitable by half saturation with ammonium 

 sulphate together with the serumglobulin. While the serum 

 globulin falls out as a precipitate during dialysis this activator 

 remains in the solution, from which a large percentage of lecithin 

 is extractable with warm alcohol. In many respects this appears 

 to be a protein compound of lecithin and possibly is identical with 



