A STUDY OF THE PROTECTIVE ACTION OF SNAKE VENOM UPON BLOOD CORPUSCLES

Washed blood corpuscles of certain species of animals in a concentration of about (5) per cent suspended in salt solution containing above 4 per cent of cobra venom undergo changes in their resistance to certain physical and chemical agents. They become non-haemolyzable by water, ether, saponin, and quite strong solutions of lecithin, provided always that the excess of venom has not been entirely removed. On the other hand, certain acids and alkalis, excepting ammonia, lake the venomized corpuscles more easily than they lake normal corpuscles. Venom solutions of 2 per cent and less exert no protective property upon blood corpuscles, but they induce changes in the corpuscles whereby they are rendered more easily laked by the same physical and chemical agents.