i 7 ,i Monserrat et al.: Philippine Cobra Venom 63 
According to our experiments the neutralizing value in vitro 
was estimated to be 0.4 cubic centimeter for guinea pigs of 
400 grams body weight. 
This quantity of serum, mixed with a lethal dose of the venom 
at room temperature for one hour and injected subcutaneously, 
saved the animals, while 0.6 cubic centimeter of normal horse 
serum, mixed with the venom as a control under the same con- 
ditions, resulted fatally to the experimental animal. 
The therapeutic power of the antivenom serum was tried on 
rabbits. We found that 1 cubic centimeter of the serum in- 
jected intravenously saved a rabbit of 1 kilogram body weight 
from a sure lethal dose of cobra venom. 
The effect of the serum as a preventive or curative in case 
of snake bite in human beings has not been ascertained up to 
the present. It is the intention of the authors to distribute 
this serum to provincial physicians who are interested and 
willing to supply us with information concerning the kind of 
snake, location of the bite, and also the symptoms of bitten 
patients. It must be remembered that, in case of cobra bite, 
death may and very often does occur within a few hours after 
the patient has been bitten. It would, therefore, be impractical 
to defer request for a supply of the serum until the snake bite 
occurs. On the other hand, the care of the liquid serum de- 
mands certain equipment, such as an ice box, which a good many 
of the provincial physicians may not have at their disposal. 
It is claimed by various authors who have used this serum in 
other countries that its antitoxic power will remain practically 
the same for a considerable length of time. Nevertheless, in the 
absence of proper precautions, contamination may take place 
which would not only deteriorate the serum but also injure 
the patient upon injection. We are, therefore, arranging ex- 
periments to preserve the serum in dry form in which condition 
it is analogous to other antitoxins. Preserved in properly sealed 
ampules the serum will keep almost indefinitely. The dried 
scales of serum in one vial, and carbolized distilled water in 
another, has been found satisfactory and most economical for 
dispatching the serum to physicians, instructions being given 
that 10 cubic centimeters of the serum be injected subcuta- 
neously as a preventive, and 20 cubic centimeters in case symp- 
toms of snake-bite poisoning have already set in. Another 
injection of 20 cubic centimeters should be given if satisfactory 
improvement of the patient’s symptoms has not taken place in 
two hours after the first injection. Injection should be given 
