Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Marie Phisalix’s Animaux venimeux et venins: la fonction venimeuse chez tous les animaux, a two-volume toxicological compendium published in Paris in 1922. Written by Phisalix, a French physician and herpétologist who built upon her earlier research alongside her late husband Césaire Phisalix, the text systematically surveys the biology of venom production across the animal kingdom.

The first volume inventories venomous invertebrates, protozoa, and fish, while the second volume details amphibians, lizards, and snakes. Phisalix explicitly outlines the comparative anatomy of venom glands and delivery systems, details the biochemical properties of different toxins, tracks the physiological symptoms of envenomation, and reviews contemporary clinical treatments and serum applications. The publication features 521 text figures alongside 17 specialized full-page plates illustrated by artists Juliette Vesque, Marthe Vesque, and Fernand Angel, serving as a foundational standard for early 20th-century toxicology and herpetology.

This  plate depicts a Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum), a venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The original drawing was executed in 1912 by the French scientific illustrator Juliette Vesque. Vesque’s rendering portrays the lizard’s specialized anatomy, emphasizing its thick, fat-storing tail and the distinct, bead-like osteoderms that cover its reticulated black and pinkish-orange body.