IMMUNITY IN SOME OF ITS BIOCHEMICAL 



ASPECTS^ 



CHARLES FREDERICK BOLDUAN 

 (Department of Health, New York City) 



(WITH PLATE 2) 



Contents. — Infection, 247, Immunity: natural, 248; acquired, 248; speci- 

 ficity, 249; additional defenses, 249; Behring's discovery of antitoxin, 250; bac- 

 teriolysins, hemolysins (cytolysins), 250; complement and immune body, 251; 

 agglutinins, 251; Opsonins, 252; precipitins, 252; anti-antibodies, 252. Immunity 

 from the Standpoint of cell niitrition, 253; Ehrlich's " side chain " theory, 253; 

 receptors, 254; Weigert's " overproduction " theory, 254; natural immunity, 256; 

 anaphylaxis, 256; results of enteral and parenteral introduction of protein, 257; 

 significance of period of incubation, 258, and bearing on intoxication by infection 

 (endotoxins), 258. Modern chemotherapy according to Ehrlich, 259. Chemical 

 nature of antibodies, 260. 



Infection. One of the most interesting problems to all of us 

 is that presented by disease, especially by what we call " infectious " 

 disease. Under this term we mean disease produced by living organ- 

 isms or their products. Among the organisms producing disease 

 in man are bacteria, molds, yeasts, and protozoa, and we may con- 

 veniently speak of these collectively as germs. 



The manner in which the various germs produce disease in man, 



their mode of entrance into the body, the part of the body attacked 



— all these differ considerably with the different germs. Some 



like the bacillus of diphtheria and the bacillus of tetanus (lockjaw) 



secrete very powerful poisons, and while the germs themselves do 



not penetrate deeply into the body tissues, their poison is absorbed 



and gives rise to severe Symptoms. In the case of other germs, for 



example the tubercle bacillus, the organisms penetrate deeply into 



the body tissues and there multiply. In their growth they destroy 



the cells in which they lodge and, by their poisons, affect the 



entire body. 



^ Lecture delivered, by invitation, under the auspices of the Columbia Univer- 

 sity Biochemical Association, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Novem- 

 ber 16, 1912. 



247 



