VETERINARY MEDICIITE. 779 



with this amount react fatally wheu a sufficient amount of edestin (0.05 gm.) 

 is injected intravenously after the proper interval. When the sensitizing dose 

 is T^ to 5 mg. the intravenous injection of i mg. produces typical anaphylactic 

 death in from 2 to G minutes. Pigs sensitized to edestin fail to react to 

 intravenous injections of gliadin, or the globulins from squash seed, the castor 

 bean, or the hazelnut. Two animals reacted positively, one fatally, when given 

 an intravenous injection of flaxseed globulin. The fatal dose of flaxseed globu- 

 lin was, however, 40 to 120 times the minimum fatal intoxicating dose of 

 edestin. Guinea pigs born of a mother sensitized with edestin while pregnant 

 inherit this sensitiveness but possess it to a somewhat less degree than does the 

 mother. 



" The intraperitoneal Injection of edestin-immune rabbit serum passively 

 sensitizes the guinea pig; 0.05 to 0.1 cc. of two such sera tested rendered 

 guinea pigs sufficiently sensitive to react fatally to an intravenous injection of 

 edestin on the following day. The degree of sensitiveness passively conferred 

 appears to be somewhat greater than that induced by active sensitization. 

 When edestin is hydrolyzed by an alcoholic solution of sodium hydrate accord- 

 ing to the method of Vaughan, a substance is formed which produces a fatal 

 intoxication in the guinea pig, apparently identical with true anaphylactic 

 shoclf. The intravenous injection of one part of this poison to 40,000 parts of 

 guinea pig by weight constitutes the minimum fatal dose. 



" When suitable amounts of edestin and edestin-immune serum are allowed to 

 remain in contact for a given length of time, a precipitate is formed which, when 

 washed with salt solution and mixed with fresh guinea pig complement and 

 incubated at body temperature, yields a substance or substances which, wheu 

 injected into a guinea pig intravenously, produces a fatal intoxication, apparently 

 identical in every way with the anaphylactic reaction. Fresh complement, when 

 allowed to act under similar conditions with edestin alone, yields no poisonous 

 substance. From edestin, therefore, by the action of immune serum and 

 complement, under the experimental conditions noted, a toxic product is obtained 

 which seems to correspond to the anaphylatoxin of Friedberger." 



The action of alcohol in different concentrations upon the antigenic prop- 

 erties of horse meat protein, H. Kodama (Ztschr. Hyg. u. Infektionskrank., 

 74 (1913), No. 1, pp. SO-U; a&«. i'n Chem. Abs., 7 (1913), No. 13, p. 22U)'— 

 Alcohol, when added to horse-meat extracts or solid tissues, destroys the anti- 

 genic properties of the protein in a few days. The greatest destruction is noted 

 when the concentration of alcohol in the mixture is from 60 to 70 per cent. 

 The anaphylactic reaction is the first to disappear, then the complement fixa- 

 tion, and finally the precipitin reaction. 



The use of formalinized blood corpuscles in the complement fixation test, 

 W. Pfeiler and Kate Lossow (Mitt. Kaiser WiUieJms Inst. Landiv. Brombcrg, 

 5 (1913), No. 4, pp. 276-280).— The tests show that for practical purposes it is 

 best to treat the red blood corpuscles in an unwashed state with formaldehyde, 

 and then to keep them on ice or at room temperature. When required for use 

 they should be washed. 



Bacterial vaccine therapy: Its indications and limitations, L. Hektoen 

 ET AL. {Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 60 {1913), Nos. 17, pp. 1298, 1299; 18, pp. 1360, 

 1361; 19, pp. U59-1461; 20, pp. 1539-1541; 21, pp. 1621, 1622; 22, pp. 1704, 

 1705; 23, pp. 1791, 1792; 24, pp. 1880, 1881; 25, pp. 1955, 1956; 26, pp. 2046, 

 2047). — This deals with the evolution of bacterial therapy, its pitfalls, theoret- 

 ical considerations (varieties of immunity, antibodies, antigens, factors of active 

 immunity, opsonic Index, etc.) ; classification of bacterial vaccines (autogenous, 

 stocli, mixed stock and its use, and objections to autogenous vaccines) ; inocula- 



