KATHARINE M. HOWELL 1047 



results have not been confirmed by Hektoen' and others, who obtained as high or 

 higher antibody titres from the serum as from the other fluids regardless of the method 

 of introducing antigen. Oral immunization to diphtheria and tetanus toxin as shown 

 by Ramon and Zoeller' was less successful than other methods of immunization 

 against these diseases. However, oral vaccination against intestinal organisms, par- 

 ticularly against typhoid bacilli, has been successfully used by Calmette^ and Bes- 

 redka.-* Cooper^ reports successful immunization against pneumococcus type I in 

 rabbits by introducing pneumococcus type I vaccine into the buccal mucous mem- 

 brane. Intratracheal inoculations into rabbits with respiratory diseases gave no better 

 protection than intraperitoneal injection, according to the experiments of Jones,*^ 

 Corneal immunity in rabbits, according to Gay,^ is the most convincing evidence that 

 immunity can be restricted to one part. He cites the work of Kraus and Volk, that vac- 

 cination of one cornea leads to its protection but not to that of the other cornea. Smith, 

 Orcutt, and Little^ concluded that the udders of cows participated in the production 

 of agglutinin; for example, when they experimentally infected one-quarter of the 

 gland, there was an aggregation of leukocytes in that quarter, which was followed by 

 a production of agglutinins. 



The principal argument against the theory of the local production of antibody is 

 that the removal of the depot of antigen, whether taking place in a few seconds or after 

 some days, has frequently little effect on antibody production. Hektoen^ found that 

 the removal of the vaccinated leg of a dog early in immunization did not modify to 

 any extent the antibody curve of the dog serum. Friedberger (cited by Nasta and 

 Braumer) injected antigen subcutaneously into rabbits' ears; the ears were cut ofif at 

 intervals varying from ten minutes to one hour after subcutaneous injection; the 

 amount of antibody produced was comparable to that of controls. Nasta and Braum- 

 er" and Reitler," having interrupted the circulation by a ligature at the base of the ear, 

 cut off the ear two to three seconds after subcutaneous injection and failed to inhibit 

 antibody response in the animal. Fernbach and Hepner'^ cut out the skin at the point 

 of intracutaneous injection of typhoid vaccine; the agglutinin curve elicited was com- 

 parable to that obtained from intravenous inoculation, and they concluded that the 

 spleen was the essential organ for antibody production in the defense reaction against 

 typhoid infections. Thus far, experimental work on the local production of specific 

 antibody has not determined the site of antibody formation. 



• Hektoen, L.: /. Inject. Dis., 9, 103. 191 1. 



* Ramon, G., and Zoeller, C: Coinpt. rend. Soc. de biol., 95, 1409. 1926. 

 3 Calmette, A.: Ann. de I'Inst. Pasteur, 37, 900. 1923. 



1 Besredka, A.: Tr. Roy. Soc. Trap. Med. b' Hyg., 17, 346. 1924. 

 5 Cooper, M. L.: J. Infect. Dis., 38, 491. 1926. 

 '^ Jones, F. S.: J. Exper. Med., 37, 789. 1923. 



7 Gay, F. P.: loc. cit. 



8 Smith, T., Orcutt, M. L., and Little, R. B.: ibid., p. 153. 1923. 

 'Hektoen, L.: loc. cit. 



"Nasta, M., and Braumer, R.: Compt. roid. Soc. de bid., 95, 137. 1926. 

 " Reitler, R.: Ztschr.f. Immunitaisforsch. 11. exper. Therap., 40, 453. 1924. 

 " Fernbach, H., and Hepner, F.: Centralbl.f. BakterioL, 100, 358. 1926. 



