An account of some researches into the nature and action of snake venom / by Robert Henry Elliot.

  • Elliot, Robert Henry, 1864-1936.
Date:
[1900]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An account of some researches into the nature and action of snake venom / by Robert Henry Elliot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Reprinted from the British Medical Journal, February 10th, 1900. AN ACCOUNT OF SOME RESEARCHES INTO THE NATURE AND ACTION OF SNAKE VENOM. By Captain ROBERT HENRY ELLIOT, M.B., B.S.Lond., F.R.C.S.Eng,, D.P.H.Canib., Indian Medical Service, Madras. HHE Work dealt wit.li in the following pages was carried out with the aid of a grant most generously made to the writer for RieAurP°8e Ma<iras Government, and it seems fitting that this record should be prefaced with an acknowledgment of the author s indebtedness to that Government for the large- hearted policy which has enabled him to carry out these researches ; he is all too conscious of how little has been done in return for their generosity.] B Preliminary Remarks on the Methods Employed. Method of Collecting and Storing Venom, Bile, etc. In order to collect and store venom, bile, etc., the snake is first chloroformed and nailed on to a deal table; the blood is then collected by manipulations to be described later on, and the gall bladder is removed by making a long median ventral incision over it, cutting out the bladder together with the surrounding fat, and then making an incision into the most v.^Te.n e • Par^ 8ac with a sharp pair of scissors ; the bile flows into an evaporating dish, which is at once removed to a water bath kept at a temperature of ioo° F.; as soon as the contents of this dish have dried the vessel is placed under the receiver of an air-pump, over concentrated sulphuric acid, and the air is exhausted; after twelve hours in the receiver the dish is removed, and the now dry bile is easily separated from the bottom of the dish, with the aid of a spatula or knife : it is at once placed in a dry glass tube, and tightly corked till required for use. After removing the gall bladder the poison sacs are next dissected out, and their contents squeezed into a dry watch- glass, which is placed in a cupboard for a few hours till the poison dries into scales ; if the atmosphere is damp, as is the ease in the monsoon, the venom is dried by floating the watch- glass on a water bath at ioo° F. for a couple of hours. The ease with which the poison separates from the glass when dry is remarkable; tapping the bottom of the glass is enough to separate the whole amount of venom from it in a few seconds. The dry poison is removed without delay into glass tubes previously dried at a high temperature, and allowed to cool before use;, the tube is tightly corked as soon as filled. YVhen undertaking a series, or a number of series of experi-