CHAPTER XXV 



HYPERSENSITIVENESS 



Anaphylaxis 



Discovery of Anaphylaxis. — In 1902 Richet and Portier under- 

 took the study of the toxic substances present in the tentacles of 

 Acthiaria with an idea of comparing this substance witli a similar 

 one present in Pliysalia found in the South Seas. They prepared 

 glycerin extracts and injected graded doses into dogs in order to 

 determine the toxic dose. The animals which recovered were saved 

 for further experiments. When they attempted to use these an- 

 imals in later experiments, they discovered that the dogs had 

 become intensively sensitive to the poison. Richet says that, 

 "The most typical experiment, that in which the result was in- 

 disputable, was carried out on a particularly licalthy dog. It was 

 given at first 0.1 c.c. of the gljT'crin extract without becoming ill ; 

 twenty-two days later, as it was in perfect health, I gave a sec- 

 ond injection of the same amount. In a few seconds it was ex- 

 tremel}^ ill, breathing became distressful and panting; it could 

 scarcely drag itself along, lay on its side, was seized with diar- 

 rhea, vomited blood, and died in twenty-five minutes." 



Early Studies of Anaphylaxis. — In reviewing the literature 

 Richet (1913) and also Doerr (1909) state that in 1839 Magendie 

 observed that one injection of a nontoxic dose of albumin ren- 

 dered rabbits, after several days had elapsed, sensitive to a simi- 

 lar dose of the same material. In 1890 Koch reported that tuber- 

 culous animals were hypersensitive to normally nontoxic doses 

 of tuberculin. Flexner in 1894 found that rabbits that had sur- 

 vived a fir.st injection of dog serum succumbed when given a 

 similar or even smaller dose several days later. Von Behring 

 (1893) noted, in his studies of diphtheria toxin, that one injec- 

 tion of toxin rendered guinea pigs more intensely sensitive to 

 diphtheria toxin. Arloing and Courmont (1894) found that in- 

 dividuals receiving several injections of donkey serum showed 

 definite reactions to later injections of donkey serum. 



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