t4o 

 Synopsis. 



1. In the blood-serum of every man a substance occurs, 

 which can transform coloured horse-fibrine to a rather important 

 degree. Hen 's albumen, lung and kidney-tissue, coloured with 

 eosine, can also be transformed by human serum. With other 

 albumina no experiments have been made. 



2. In general the peptic power of the serum individually shows 

 great variety ; fibrine is generally transformed to a higher degree 

 than hen 's albumen, lung- and kidney-tissue, except that the 

 serum of sufferers from a kidney-disease corrodes kidney-tissue 

 to a higher degree. 



3. These outcomes, differing from the results of the well- 

 known researches of ABDERHALDEN and his school, may 

 probably be brought in concord with these through the fact, 

 that the method of research followed by me (colouring of 

 tissues) is much more sensitive than the methods used by 

 Abderhalden (dialysis, optic and other methods). 



BiJLEVELD. (Dissertation Leiden 191 3) too found, that by an 

 action of serum on placenta continued for more than 16 hours 

 it may be proved by the dialysis-method, that every human 

 serum corrodes such a tissue. This result beautifully harmonizes 

 with my results. 



4. The transformation of coloured horse-fibrine may be 

 absolutely checked by the addition of other uncoloured albumina : 

 tuberculine, hen 's albumen, kidney-tissue. 



5. As tuberculine checks the transformation of fibrine in 

 tuberculosis serum to a lower degree than in non-tuberculous 

 serum, from this a new principle of serological research for 

 sufferers from tuberculosis has arisen. 



6. The proposition is made to call the very last dilution of 

 serum, the first in which fibrine is no longer transformed, 

 divided by that dilution, in which a 2 0/0 tuberculine-solution 

 just succeeds in quite checking the fibrine-transformation, the 

 check ing-in dex . 



7. This checking-index is smaller in tuberculous-serum than 

 in non-tuberculous serum. The normal number of this index 

 has still to be determined more exactly. 



