Nov. 19, 1921 Hemotoxins from Parasitic Worms 393 



worms which has been kept ahve for eight days was strongly hemolytic 

 to washed sheep blood corpuscles. 



In the course of these experiments it was observed that whereas fresh 

 specimens of Ascaris lumbricoides from swine are pink in appearance 

 they become white as they are kept in the laboratory. Spectroscopic 

 examination of the fluid showed that the pink appearance is correlated 

 with the presence of oxyhemoglobin and the white appearance is corre- 

 lated with the absence of that substance. In other words, worms kept 

 in vitro lose their oxyhemoglobin, a fact which appears to indicate that 

 this substance is not a constant constituent of the worm but that it is 

 obtained from the host, the supply evidently being renewed from time 

 to time. Inasmuch as Schimmelpfennig {1902) states that the oxyhemo- 

 globin is eliminated in vitro, the present writer made spectroscopic 

 examinations of physiological salt solution in which ascarids had been 

 kept alive for 24 hours or longer, and found that such solutions did not 

 show the oxyhemoglobin spectrum. Tests for iron in such salt solutions 

 showed but slight traces of this substance. That these traces were 

 excretion products of the parasite was shown by the fact that a quantity 

 of salt solution from the same supply which was added to the beakers in 

 which the worms were kept gave negative results. It may be concluded, 

 therefore, that when removed from the host and kept in a physiological 

 salt solution living ascarids lose their oxyhemoglobin content not by 

 excreting it as such but probably by breaking it down into simpler sub- 

 stances and storing the iron in their tissues. The fact that ascarids are 

 rich in iron and that this substance enters in considerable quantities into 

 the composition of the eggs (Schimmelpfennig, igos) is decidedly signifi- 

 cant in this connection. 



On the basis of certain experiments Flury (191 2) states that salt 

 solutions in which living ascarids have been kept for 24 hours have 

 absorbed the hemolysin which the parasites excrete. The observations 

 of the present writer on this point do not bear out Flury's view, as the 

 following experiments will show. 



A number of swine ascarids were kept in a beaker for 24 hours in a 

 quantity of physiological salt solution sufficient to cover the worms. 

 Ten cc. of this salt solution produced no dissolving effect on i cc. of a 5 

 per cent suspension of guinea-pig red blood corpuscles. A similar experi- 

 ment was performed with a different lot of worms, the salt solution in 

 this case being tested on washed hog erythrocytes, with negative results. 

 Negative results on sheep erythrocytes were also obtained with salt 

 solution in which another lot of worms had been kept for 24 hours. In 

 a similar way negative results were obtained on several other occasions 

 with salt solution in which living ascarids had remained from 18 to 36 

 hours. 



In the experiments mentioned above the parasites were examined and 

 found to be still alive before the salt solution was tested as to its hemolytic 



