26 BIOLOGY OF PNEUMOCOCCUS 



immunized animals. Failure to do this would explain the unsatis- 

 factory results of Foa, and the Klemperers. Emmerich looked upon 

 the action of the immune serum as antibacterial rather than anti- 

 toxic, and came near the truth when he explained the action as a 

 combination of two proteins, globulin from the blood combining 

 with a poisonous substance, probably also protein from the bac- 

 terial cell. He, like Fraenkel and Sternberg, made a bid for preced- 

 ence, objecting to Foa's claim of being the originator of serum 

 therapy. 



In 1896, Washbourn, 1486 apparently unaware of Mosny's origi- 

 nal observation, thus described the effect of adding pneumococci to 

 specific immune serum: "When protective serum is inoculated it 

 appears perfectly clear at the end of twenty-four hours, but at the 

 bottom a sediment is seen. The sediment consists of pneumococci 

 staining well and grouped in masses." 



Metchnikoff's, Mosny's, and Washbourn's unnamed phenomenon 

 was verified in 1897 by Bezancon and Griffon 108 ' 9 and called by 

 them "agglutination." They found that the serum of patients dur- 

 ing pneumococcal infections acquires agglutinative power, and 

 from their experiences they drew the conclusion, "that from the 

 standpoint of agglutination there exist several races of pneumo- 

 cocci, which behave as though different microbes." Here was the 

 basis for a method of serological classification, neglected for thir- 

 teen years until Neufeld and Haendel made it their own. 



Eyre, with Washbourn (1896), 373 like Kruse and Pansini, was 

 also close to the phenomenon of bacterial dissociation. 



In old broth cultivations the majority of cocci are dead, but a few re- 

 sistant forms remain living; and, by transplanting a sufficient quantity 

 into fresh media, growth occurs and a new generation arises. We have, 

 moreover, found that this second generation differs in morphology, 

 biology and pathogenic properties from the parent stock. It in fact rep- 

 resents a distinct variety, possessing practically no virulence, and 

 growing luxuriantly, even at 20° C, on all the usual media. 



Their first attempts to bring about reversion failed, mainly 



