128 ABSTRACTS 



serum can generally be obtained from rabbits after ten or twelve intra- 

 peritoneal injections of living bacilli at seven day intervals. The 

 agglutination test demonstrates the unity of the pertussis group and 

 differentiates this group from the hemoglobinophihc and pertussis- 

 like organisms. In the diagnosis of pertussis a positive agglutination 

 test at a dilution of 1 : 200 is necessary, in order to eliminate the pres- 

 ence of natural agglutinins. — G. H. R. 



Treatment of Typhoid Fever by Intravenous Injections of Polyvalent 

 Sensitized Typhoid Vaccine Sediment. Studies in Typhoid Immuni- 

 zation VI. F. P. Gay and H. T. Chickering. Arch, Int. Med. 

 1916, 17, 303-328. 



The report deals with the treatment of 53 cases of typhoid fever, the 

 diagnosis being confirmed by laboratory examination, with the sensi- 

 tized vaccine of Gay and Claypole. The treatment consists of one or 

 more intravenous injections of 1/50 to 1/25 milligram of the vaccine, 

 or, in some cases, an intravenous injection followed by three subcutane- 

 ous injections of 1/10 milligram each. The symptoms following the 

 intravenous injections are mild, and the results generally beneficial 

 unless the dose is too large. Of these 53 cases, 66 per cent showed dis- 

 tinct improvement and 34 per cent were relatively unaffected. The 

 curative results are regarded as due to the hyperleukocytosis and the 

 increased amount of antibodies induced by the vaccine. In a few 

 patients having low antibody (agglutinin) titer the vaccine treatment 

 was supplemented by the intravenous injection of considerable 

 amounts of typhoid-immune goat serum. The superiority of sensitized 

 over non-sensitized vaccine is due to the production of a specific 

 hyperleukocj-^tosis. — G. H. R. 



The Mechanism of the Abderhalden Reaction with Bacterial Substrates. 



G. H. Smith and M. W. Cook. Jour. Infect. Diseases 1916, 18, 14-19. 



Bronfenbrenner, working with tissue substrates had arrived at the 

 conclusion that the Abderhalden reaction can be resolved into two 

 distinct sub-phases; (1) sensitization of the substrate by specific ele- 

 ments of the immune serum, resulting in adsorption of antif erments ; 

 (2) autodigestion of the serum; he also concluded that only the former 

 of these reactions was specific. The present authors attempt to as- 

 certain whether the same principles apply to the reaction when bacterial 

 instead of tissue substrates are employed. Immune sera were obtained 

 from rabbits immunized to (a) typhoid, (b) paratyphoid A, (c) 

 Staphylococcus aureus; also serum from control rabbits. The serum 

 of each rabbit was combined with its homologous substrate and also 

 with the two non-specific substrates. After the serum-substrate 

 contacts, the tubes were centrifuged and the sera dialyzed, and tested 

 by the Ninhydrin method. The substrates were washed and each 

 divided into four parts, to three of which fresh serum from the immunized 

 rabbits was added; the fourth received normal serum. Contact in 

 cold was allowed for 16 hours, after which the tubes were centrifuged, 



