Venoms: Venomous Animals and Antivenomous Serum-therapeuticsCalmette, A. (Albert)
Science
Venoms: Venomous Animals and Antivenomous Serum-therapeutics
Calmette, A. (Albert)
Antitoxins; Poisonous snakes; Toxins; Venom
Noc has determined more especially the coagulant action of the
venom of _Lachesis lanceolatus_ (Fer-de-lance of Martinique) upon
1 per cent. citrate-plasmas, 1 per cent. oxalate-plasmas, 4 per
cent. chloridate-plasmas, and upon blood rendered non-coagulable by
extract of leeches’ heads. He found that, while weak doses of venom
(1 milligramme per cubic centimetre of horse- or rabbit-plasma)
produce coagulation in a few minutes in the citrate-plasmas,
chloridate-plasmas, or those treated with extract of leeches, the doses
of the same venom greater than 4 milligrammes on the contrary suppress
the coagulability of these plasmas, even when there be added to them
doses of chloride of calcium (for the citrate- and oxalate-plasmas), or
of distilled water (for the chloridate-plasma), or of fibrin-ferment
(for the plasma treated with leech-extract) sufficient to cause rapid
coagulation in the control tubes that do not contain venom.
Noc also observed that the venom of the same species of snake
(_Lachesis lanceolatus_), when heated to 75° C., entirely loses its
coagulant properties; and that, with a temperature of 58° C., its
coagulant power already commences to diminish. When heated for thirty
minutes at a temperature of 65° C., a dose of 1 milligramme does not
coagulate more than 1 c.c. of citrate-plasma in one hour. G. Lamb has
likewise found that the venom of _Vipera russellii_ loses its coagulant
power when heated to 75° C.
The coagulant substance in these venoms is precipitable by alcohol at
the same time as the _neurotoxin_ and other active substances. The
precipitate, when dissolved again in physiological water, preserves all
the properties of the original solution.
Antivenomous _anticolubrine_ serum, that is to say, that furnished by
horses vaccinated against the venoms of the _Cobra_ and the _Krait_,
does not prevent coagulation by coagulant venoms. This need not
surprise us, since the coagulant substances in venoms are destroyed by
heating, and the animals vaccinated in order to obtain antitoxic serum
are usually inoculated exclusively with heated venoms.
It is easy, however, to obtain active serums specific against
the coagulant venoms; it is sufficient to treat these animals by
inoculation with progressively increasing doses of the same venoms
unheated. I have had no difficulty in achieving this result with
small laboratory animals (guinea-pigs and rabbits) and also with the
horse, but I have never had at my disposal a sufficient amount of the
venoms of _Lachesis_ or _Vipera russellii_ to undertake with them
the regular acquisition of large quantities of horse-serum, at once
_antineurotoxic_ and _anticoagulant_. The preparation of such a serum,
nevertheless, presents much interest for certain countries, such as
Burma, where the Daboia (_Vipera russellii_) is almost as common as
the Cobra, and Brazil, where nearly all the casualties due to venomous
snakes are produced by _Lachesis_.[38]
II.--ANTICOAGULANT VENOMS.
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