And.  Jour.  l*harru.  | 
April,  1914.  / 
Lecithin. 
1 79 
lecithin  and  urethane  and  found  that  the  usual  prompt  action  of 
urethane  remained  absent.  He  concluded  that  urethane,  injected 
simultaneously  with  the  lecithin,  became  anchored  to  the  latter  and 
was  thus  unable  to  enter  into  reciprocal  action  with  the  lipoids  of 
the  brain.  Further  experiments  with  ether,  chloroform,  morphine, 
scopolamine,  novocaine,  tropacocaine  and  stovaine  gave  a  similar 
result.  The  subcutaneous,  intravenous  and  intraperitoneal  injec- 
tion of  these  narcotics,  applied  simultaneously  with  lecithin,  always 
caused  an  earlier  return  to  consciousness,  or  the  earlier  reappear- 
ance of  sensation.  Similarly,  animals  which  had  previously  received 
an  injection  of  lecithin  required  a  larger  dose  of  the  narcotic  than 
those  which  had  not  previously  undergone  lecithin  treatment.  These 
results  justify  the  conclusion  that  lecithin  injections  might  be  em- 
ployed for  human  beings  also,  in  order  to  shorten  the  period  of 
narcosis  or  as  a  prophylactic  against  its  troublesome  secondary 
effects.  For  experiments  of  this  nature  subcutaneous  injections  of 
aqueous  emulsions  of  lecithin  or  intravenous  injections  of  lecithin- 
sodium  chloride  emulsions  are  suitable. 
The  part  played  by  lecithin  in  haemolysis  by  poisons  is  also  of 
physiological  significance.  In  1902  Flexner  and  Noguchi  made  the 
observation  that  blood  corpuscles,  which  had  been  completely  freed 
from  the  adherent  serum  by  washing  with  physiological  salt  solu- 
tion, were  not  dissolved  by  snake  venom.  They  assumed  that  a 
substance  was  present  in  the  blood  serum  which  played  the  part  of 
activator  of  the  amboceptors  of  the  snake  venom,  and  this  was  later 
experimentally  demonstrated  by  Kyes.  According  to  Kyes,  cobra 
venom  which  is  inactive  towards  various  kinds  of  blood  immediately 
assumes  hemolytic  properties  on  the  addition  of  lecithin.  If  cobra 
venom  occasionally  causes  solution  of  blood  corpuscles  in  spite  of 
the  absence  of  serum,  it  is  due,  according  to<  Kyes  and  Sachs,  to  the 
lecithin  contained  in  the  blood  corpuscles ;  and  this  occurs  more 
readily  the  more  loosely  the  lecithin  is  bound  to  the  blood  corpuscle 
or  to  the  molecule  of  protoplasm.  The  communications  of  Abder- 
halden  and  le  Count  show  that  the  activating  properties  of  lecithin 
may  be  arrested  by  cholesterin. 
Finally,  the  relationship  existing  between  the  action  of  lecithin 
and  that  of  Rontgen  rays  or  radium  rays  has  gained  the  considera- 
tion of  physiologists.  Reference  may  be  made  to  the  communica- 
tions on  this  subject  by  Schwarz,  Werner,  Exner,  Sywek,  Neuberg, 
Wohlgemuth  and  Hoffmann. 
