ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
121 
CRYSTALLIZED VIPER VENOM AND FANGS FROM THREE VIPERINE SNAKES 
Venom when crystallized is a dark amber color. Beginning at the left, the fangs are, Rattlesnakes, Lance- 
head snake and Bushmaster. A black hair is drawn through the poison duct of one of each pair. 
Photograph by Elwin R. Sanborn. 
In the city of Butantan, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 
is a splendid laboratory known as the Insti¬ 
tution of Serum Therapy. One of its main 
departments was organized for the production 
of serums for snake-bite. The results of the 
serums of Sao Paulo have been successful to 
an astonishing degree. Specific serums are pre¬ 
pared for the characteristic types of dangerous 
serpents of that country. So remarkably en¬ 
ergetic is the action of these products in cases 
quickly accessible, that the need for a ligature 
or even scarification in first-aid treatment of 
wounds has been eliminated. 
The method of production is along the most 
approved technical lines. Horses are immun¬ 
ized bv repeated small injections of snake 
poison. After months of innoculations, which 
are gradually increased in strength, they are 
able to withstand an injection of the pure 
poison that would be absolutely fatal to a non- 
immunized subject, yet experience no major 
symptoms. After a short period of injections 
of the formidable toxins extracted from the 
fangs of serpents in the laboratory, Nature 
begins producing in the blood of the treated 
animal an anti-toxin that neutralizes the 
poison’s attack. By a carefully-designed and 
humane method, a moderate amount of blood 
is extracted from each horse by a process that 
is not more disturbing to the animal than an 
application of the clippers used in grooming the 
average horse for the spring. The extracted 
blood is so treated that the colorless or serious 
portion is separated. This undergoes a process of 
concentration and is then placed in pointed vials. 
These are sealed in a flame by fusing the 
glass, and the serum is ready for injection 
into the human victim by merely pinching off 
the glass point and inserting the needle of 
the hypodermic syringe. Kept in a moderate 
temperature, the serum remains good for ap¬ 
proximately ten years. 
The serums prepared by the Brazilian Gov¬ 
ernment specifically for use in the United 
States have been partially produced by the 
use of snake poisons obtained from serpents 
shipped to the Institute of Serum Therapy by 
the New York Zoological Society. We have 
personally extracted a large portion of the 
venom. The serpent to be operated upon is 
placed on a table, the head is pressed down with 
a rod and the snake grasped by the fingers, im- 
