echidnine

English

Etymology

echidna +‎ -ine

Noun

echidnine (uncountable)

1. The clear, viscid fluid secreted by the poison glands of certain snakes.
2. (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

• “echidnine”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.