MARINE TOXINS AND VENOMOUS AND POISONOUS MARINE m
s
259
medical history fact and fiction was Pliny, whose voluminous work
Historia Naturalis contains numerous fascinating accounts of venomous
and poisonous animals. Describing the stingray, Pliny writes :
“ So venimous it is, that if it be struchen into the root of a tree, it
killeth it : it is able to pierce a good cuirace or jacke of buffe, or such
like, as if it were an arrow shot or a dart launched: but besides the
force and power that it hath that way answerable to iron and steele,
the wound that it maketh, it is therewith poisoned.”
So frequently quoted were Pliny’s works that Hulme (1895) com“ Several writers of antiquity influenced the mediaeval authors, but
it is scarcely necessary to detail their labours at any length, since if
they lived before Pliny he borrowed from them, and if they lived
afterward they borrowed from him, so that we practically in Pliny
get the pith and cream of all.”
As Klauber (1956) has so aptly concluded: “ Pliny’s Historia
Naturalis was the funnel through which we can watch the ancient
folklore pouring down into the mediaeval and modern worlds.”
Between the days of Pliny and the present a number of works on
venomous and poisonous animals, including the marine forms, and
their toxins have been published. These include the fine contributions
by Grevin (1571), Autenrieth (1833), Bottard (1889), Phisalix (1922),
Pawlowsky (1927), Evans (1943), Phillips and Brady (1953), Buckley
and Porges (1956), Kaiser and Michl(1958), Nigrelli (1960), Keegan and
Macfarlane (1963), Halstead and Russell (1964). By far the most
comprehensive work on toxic marine animals is that being prepared by
B. W. Halstead (1965-66). The author recently had the pleasure of
browsing through Dr. Halstead’s manuscript. The two volumes are the
most complete and fascinating work yet prepared on this subject.
They will greatly enhance our knowledge of the venomous and poisonous
marine organisms.
mented :
C. General chemistry and zootoxicology of rnarine poisons
Marine toxins vary considerably in their chemical and zootoxicological properties. Some are proteins of low molecular weight, while
others are proteins of obviously high molecular weight. Some of the
toxic fractions appear to be amines or quaternary ammonium compounds or polypeptides or mucopolysaccharides, while the structure
of still others is unknown. Some marine toxins contain enzymes but
these substances are not nearly as common as they are in the reptilian
venoms, nor are they to be found in such large quantities within a
x 2
s
259
medical history fact and fiction was Pliny, whose voluminous work
Historia Naturalis contains numerous fascinating accounts of venomous
and poisonous animals. Describing the stingray, Pliny writes :
“ So venimous it is, that if it be struchen into the root of a tree, it
killeth it : it is able to pierce a good cuirace or jacke of buffe, or such
like, as if it were an arrow shot or a dart launched: but besides the
force and power that it hath that way answerable to iron and steele,
the wound that it maketh, it is therewith poisoned.”
So frequently quoted were Pliny’s works that Hulme (1895) com“ Several writers of antiquity influenced the mediaeval authors, but
it is scarcely necessary to detail their labours at any length, since if
they lived before Pliny he borrowed from them, and if they lived
afterward they borrowed from him, so that we practically in Pliny
get the pith and cream of all.”
As Klauber (1956) has so aptly concluded: “ Pliny’s Historia
Naturalis was the funnel through which we can watch the ancient
folklore pouring down into the mediaeval and modern worlds.”
Between the days of Pliny and the present a number of works on
venomous and poisonous animals, including the marine forms, and
their toxins have been published. These include the fine contributions
by Grevin (1571), Autenrieth (1833), Bottard (1889), Phisalix (1922),
Pawlowsky (1927), Evans (1943), Phillips and Brady (1953), Buckley
and Porges (1956), Kaiser and Michl(1958), Nigrelli (1960), Keegan and
Macfarlane (1963), Halstead and Russell (1964). By far the most
comprehensive work on toxic marine animals is that being prepared by
B. W. Halstead (1965-66). The author recently had the pleasure of
browsing through Dr. Halstead’s manuscript. The two volumes are the
most complete and fascinating work yet prepared on this subject.
They will greatly enhance our knowledge of the venomous and poisonous
marine organisms.
mented :
C. General chemistry and zootoxicology of rnarine poisons
Marine toxins vary considerably in their chemical and zootoxicological properties. Some are proteins of low molecular weight, while
others are proteins of obviously high molecular weight. Some of the
toxic fractions appear to be amines or quaternary ammonium compounds or polypeptides or mucopolysaccharides, while the structure
of still others is unknown. Some marine toxins contain enzymes but
these substances are not nearly as common as they are in the reptilian
venoms, nor are they to be found in such large quantities within a
x 2