JOINT ACTION OF SEVERAL AMBOCEPTORS. 



633 



marked agglutination; they say nothing about the occurrence of 

 haemolysis, though haemolysis is what one should have expected 

 according to their theory. On the other hand the authors tell us 

 that ox serum, by acting on ox blood which has been prepared and 

 loaded with horse complement, loses its power to agglutinate, in 

 conjunction with horse serum, prepared ox blood. Nothing is said 

 about haemolytic action. According to the authors ox serum so 

 treated when tested in conjunction with horse serum on guinea-pig 

 blood, does agglutinate and dissolve the blood more slowly and 

 more feebly. We felt it advisable to study the conditions more 

 closely, and proceeded along the lines already described in our 

 analysis of guinea-pig blood haemolysis. 



Two series of tubes are prepared. Each tube contains 1 cc. prepared 5% 

 ox blood which has previously been treated for one hour with 0.5 cc. horse 

 serum ( = 2 complete haemolytic doses) at 37 and then freed from fluid by 

 centrifuge. Decreasing amounts of inactive ox serum are added to each tube, 

 the mixtures kept at 37 for one hour and centrifuged. The decanted fluids 

 in the one series are digested each with the sediments from 1 cc. 5% prepared 

 ox blood plus 0.25 cc. horse serum, and in the other series with the sediments 

 from 1 cc. 5% guinea-pig blood plus 0.25 cc. horse serum. The result is shown 

 in the following table: 



TABLE IX. 



From the table it can be seen that ox blood loaded with horse 

 complement is likewise unable to deprive inactive ox serum of the 

 constituent which brings about haemolysis. In fact ox blood so 

 treated is able, in conjunction with horse serum, to dissolve with 

 full or only slightly impaired power not only prepared ox blood-cells 



