echidnine
English edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
echidnine (uncountable)
- The clear, viscid fluid secreted by the poison glands of certain snakes.
- (organic chemistry) A nitrogenous base contained in this fluid, believed to be the active poisonous principle of the virus.
- 1861, Alfred Moquin-Tandon, Elements of Medical Zoology:
- Prince Lucien Bonaparte has shown that the poison of the Viper consists essentially of a principle to which he has given the name echidnine or viperine
References edit
- “echidnine”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.