66 



FURTHER REMARKS UPON THE MECHANISM OF 

 AGGLUTINATION. 



By R. Greig Smith, M.Sc, Macleay Bacteriologist to the 



Society. 



Two years ago, at the April meeting of this Society, I read a 

 paper* upon the mechanism of agglutination, in which I reviewed 

 the theories regarding the phenomenon which had been published 

 up to that time. I also gave, as the result of my work and 

 experience, the hypothesis that the agglutination of bacteria is 

 due to the formation of a chemical precipitate upon the bacteria 

 through the interaction of the agglutinating substance of the 

 active serum with the agglutinable substance secreted by the 

 bacteria. The chemical precipitate upon the bacteria is flocculated 

 by the salts of the serum or of the bouillon, and the bacteria are 

 carried with the precipitate mechanically. My hypothesis differed 

 from that of Nicolle and of Paltauf by taking into account the 

 function of the salts and the mechanical part played by the 

 organisms. 



Since the publication of my paper two authors have published 

 papers detailing experiments which show the function of salts in 

 promoting agglutination, but they miss the point that it is the 

 precijntate on the bacteria that is agglutinated, clumped, or 

 flocculated by the salts. 



I was the first to emphasise the necessary role of the salts in 

 explaining the mechanism of the process; and although Bordet 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. xxv., 75. Referat in Cent. f. Bakt. 1 Abt. xxx.. 

 209. 



