HEMOLYTIC ACTION OF SERUM. 477 



solution, I cc. of blood was injected into 19 cc. of 1.5 per cent, 

 sodium citrate, the corpuscles then washed four times, cen- 

 trifuging at low speed to just sediment the corpuscles and the 

 final suspension being brought to 5 per cent, in normal saline. 

 For the serum, blood was run into small test tubes and kept at 

 room temperature over night. 



The serum was diluted for all the experiments I : 4 with normal 

 saline; the corpuscle suspension being 5 per cent, as stated above. 

 Agglutination tests were made in the hanging drop according to 

 the method outlined by Ascoli (6). No agglutination was ob- 

 served in any of the serum-corpuscle combinations. 



In the tests for the possible hemolytic action of the sera of 

 any one of the four birds, sixteen hemolysis tubes were used in 

 each experiment. Four of the tubes were controls, having the 

 own corpuscles added to the serum, the other twelve were all 

 the possible combinations. One cc. of the 5 per cent, corpuscle 

 suspension was rapidly run into 1.5 cc. of the serum dilution. 

 The tubes were then shaken, placed in the incubator at 38.5 C. 

 for two hours and shaken again every quarter of an hour during 

 this interval. The tubes were then placed in the ice-box at -f- 9 

 C. over night and observed the following morning. Furthermore 

 a 5 per cent, corpuscle suspension in saline was always preserved 

 to the end of the period of observation. 



The table given demonstrates the results obtained more clearly 

 than any written description. The greater tendency of the 

 Sebright cock and capon serum to hemolyze the Leghorn cor- 

 puscles may be noted, but attention must be drawn to the fact, 

 that this is not a constant phenomenon and that in the case of the 

 Sebright capon serum the own corpuscles are hemolyzed to 

 approximately the same degree. 



In a single experiment not recorded in the table, the sera of 

 all the birds was diluted I : 40 with normal saline. At this 

 degree of dilution distinct hemolysis was observed in the tube 

 having Sebright capon serum and Leghorn capon corpuscles. 

 There was not even a trace of hemolytic action to be noted for 

 any of the other serum-corpuscle combinations. 



The different action of the sera tested does not prove an 

 actual difference in the tissues but it is of interest to note the 



