Hypnotoxin

Yet, because of its apparent common sense, the hypnotoxin idea remained attractive until Dr. Kleitman's studies of the temperature cycle.

Legendre and Piéron ( 2402-13 ), having obtained what they called "hypnotoxin" ( p. 203 ) from animals kept awake for a long time, did not attribute the onset of sleep to the direct action of hypnotoxin but to an inhibition of the CNS, the hypnotoxin thus acting as an accessory influence

This suggested that either there were other influences that held the effects of hypnotoxin at bay in the morning or the steady buildup of hypnotoxin could not completely explain the waxing and waning nature of sleepiness.

The problem was that nobody could isolate the exact chemical that caused the sleep, the mysterious hypnotoxin.

On the other hand, the evidence that there is present in nettles another poison, the hypnotoxin, responsible for the paralysis of punctured animals, seems well grounded.

According to Portier and Richet, hypnotoxin is believed to be a heat-sensitive, nondialyzable toxin with protein properties.

The capsule is full of a poisonous fluid, the hypnotoxin which contains proteins and about 75% as virulent as cobra venom.

Nematocysts or stinging cells are specialised organelles which act for defence and offence of Hydra. Each nematocyst is filled with a poisonous fluid called hypnotoxin. Hypnotoxin is a chemical combination of phenols and proteins.