222 BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



that the proteoclastic activity of the bacillus may be 

 directed to their hydrolysis as well, thus ridding the 

 patient, from the start, of that bombardment of toxins 

 which makes such a drain upon the resistance of the 

 system. There is no bacteriolytic effect upon the 

 pathogenic organisms arising from the action of 

 Reading bacillus. That can be shown by prolonged 

 symbiotic culture with both living and dead organ- 

 isms. The numbers, after reaching a maximum, 

 remain sensibly constant to the end of the experi- 

 ments, which agrees with what has been previously 

 mentioned as occurring in wounds under this treat- 

 ment. One is not therefore dealing with a case of 

 organismal antagonism, if such a thing really exists 

 among bacteria, and the explanations of Rumpf's 

 B. pyocyaneus treatment of enteric are not valid here, 

 unless that too depends, in reality, upon the protease 

 of the curative organism. 



When we turn to the action upon toxins the results 

 are totally different. I regret that I am not at liberty 

 as yet to give full publicity to the results obtained, 

 but they may be briefly outlined thus: 



Taking the toxins of tetanus and diphtheria as two 

 of the most virulent, and therefore most suitable for ex- 

 perimental observation, it has been found that contact 

 with the Reading bacillus so reduces the toxicity that 

 animals will withstand up to one hundred times the 

 minimal lethal dose without serious inconvenience, 

 while control animals are killed by even less than the 

 specified minimal dosage. Similar results are pro- 

 duced with the anaerobic B. perpingens, though they 

 cannot be pushed so far owing to the large doses 

 required. This amounts almost to definite proof that 

 the toxins, being protein by nature, are split up by 

 the proteoclastic organism into derivatives of a much 

 simpler and non-toxic order, thus confirming recent 



