134 APPLICATION OF METHOD IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



to dialysis together, peptone appeared in the dia- 

 lysate. This case evidently has to be explained as 

 follows : 



As in every case of pregnancy, the blood was filled 

 with substances out of harmony with the plasma in 

 this case, obviously, proteins. Normally, these com- 

 pounds are removed by decomposition, with the help 

 of the ferments. In the case of the female patient 

 suffering from nephritis gravidarum the decompo- 

 sition was evidently very incomplete, in consequence 

 of which the disharmonious proteins accumulated 

 rapidly, and had eventually to be removed by the 

 kidneys. 



This observation agrees very closely with some 

 results obtained by Aschner, who observed that the 

 albumen found in the urine during eclampsia is 

 decomposed by the serum of pregnant individuals, 

 although this is not the case when albumen is taken 

 from a case of ordinary nephritis. It is obvious that 

 traces of a specifically constructed albumen are quite 

 sufficient to produce the effects of a decomposition by 

 specifically directed ferments. Of course, we have 

 no right to conclude, on the strength of this fact, 

 that, because the serum of pregnancy reacts quite 

 specifically towards particular urine-albumens, there- 

 fore all the excreted proteins belong to a particular 

 type. The eclampsia may be coupled with an ordinary 

 case of nephritis, or follow it. 



