echidnine
English
Etymology
echidna + -ine
Noun
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
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References
- echidnine in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913