The most striking effects produced by the parenteral injection into animals of many snake venoms, especially of Crotalidae venoms, are local, consisting of haemorrhage, necrosis, and oedema (van Heyningen, 1954; Slotta, 1955). Mitsu-hashi et al. (1959) reported that the pathological signs characteristic of Habu (Trimeresurus fiavoviridis) bite are haemorrhage and necrosis, and that necrosis is severest in areas rich in muscular tissue. Haemorrhage and necrosis are believed to be due, at least in part, to the action of proteolytic enzymes. Houssay (1930) and others (Kellaway, 1939; Zeller, 1948; Porges, 1953; van Heyningen, 1954; Kaiser and Michl, 1958; Maeno and Mitsuhashi, 1958) considered that proteolytic enzymes were mainly responsible for haemorrhage and necrosis at the site of the bites, while Slotta (1955) regarded t