Memorias do Instituto de Butantan.

These interesting volumes deal mostly with problems of tropical medicine. Much of the material for the studies is furnished by the poisonous spiders and snakes of the neighborhood of São Paulo. The scientific standards set in this institute of immunology are high. Much of the work consists of careful study and classification of the flora and fauna of the region, and each number contains monographs on the structure and biology of the poisonous snakes. These articles are always lavishly illustrated with drawings, photomicrographs of the poison glands and photographs showing the habits of the snakes. One whole volume (the Addenda) is given to a description of a small snake, Lachesis, a close relative of our rattlesnakes, which dwells almost entirely in trees and lives on birds. The venom of this reptile is fatal to birds if injected in amounts as infinitesimal as 0.00001 Gm. An exceedingly powerful antitoxin was prepared