Venoms: Papers Presented at the First International Conference on Venoms December 27-30, 1954, at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Berkeley, California

Venomology is a relatively new scientific discipline. From the time of Pliny there has been abundant folklore regarding venoms, but it was not until the 19th century that scientific methods were applied to the study of venoms. At this time, work was begun on the systematic description of venomous snakes, immunization against serpent venoms, biological action of snake venoms, and related topics. Wide interest has now developed in venoms of all types and is reflected in the broad scope of studies appearing in this volume. Since the study of venoms is complex and involves numerous fields of medical science, the editors have not made a topical organization of the material. The subject matter is specialized, often regional and primarily of interest to the research worker. Such subjects include a classification of poisonous marine animals, diseases caused, symptoms and treatment and chemistry or toxicology of the toxins involved; pharmacological actions of