REVIEW OF RECENT RESEARCHES 



attacked. Further, the serum of forty-seven indivi- 

 duals who undoubtedly had no carcinoma, but who, 

 on the other hand, had at least partly suffered from 

 serious illnesses resulting in general loss of strength, 

 was tested for their action upon the tissues of carci- 

 noma. In forty-six cases no decomposition took 

 place. Ludke and Gambaroff also announce favour- 

 able results in regard to the diagnosis of carcinoma. 



o o 



Some interesting observations of Paltauf may be 

 quoted, as specially advocating the acceptance of 

 ferments which are specifically directed against 

 particular substrates. The tissue of a tumour from 

 a woman, aged 61, was not attacked by the 

 serum of a carcinomatous patient which decomposed 

 carcinomatous tissues, although at the same time the 

 coagulated tissue was decomposed by the serum of 

 pregnancy. The pathological diagnosis was as 

 follows : Malignant chorionic epithelioma. 



Bauer draws attention to the demonstration of 

 defensive ferments in the blood serum, in cases of 

 endemic goitre, which are able to decompose the 

 tissues of the thyroid gland. These ferments have 

 also been observed, even when no goitre was present, 

 while the clinical phenomena pointed to a disturbance 

 of the functions of the thyroid gland. We, too, have 

 found a decomposition of the tissues of the thyroid 

 gland in one case of myxcedema. There is no doubt 

 that in these diseases we are dealin, not with an 



