ABSTRACTS 255 



Wassermann technic reduced to one-tenth volume was used. The an- 

 tigen which was found to give the best results was prepared as fol- 

 lows: A forty-eight hour growth on Bordet-Gengou medium was taken 

 up in neutral distilled water and shaken for three to four hours in an 

 electric shaker, the resultmg emulsion allowed to stand at 56°C. over 

 night, filtered through a Berkefeld, and the supernatant fluid used 

 after being rendered isotonic with 9 per cent salt salution. — H. W. L. 



Pollen Extracts and Vaccines in Hay Fever. Solomon Strouse and 



Ira Frank. Journ. A. M A., 1916, 66, 712-715. 



That pollen is the etiologic agent in hay fever cannot be questioned, 

 but that it is the only factor is not certain. 



It is possible that hay fever is a pollenosis associated with bacterial 

 subinfection. It may be that the inhalation of pollen in susceptible 

 individuals irritates the nasal mucosa rendering it more liable to bacteiial 

 infection and that this infection in turn favors the absorption of more 

 pollen. . 



Cultures from the nose yielded in most mstances pure cultures ot 

 StapJujlococcus alhus, although the pneumococcus and Micrococcus ca- 

 tarrhalis were occasionally found. Autogenous bacterial vaccines were 

 prepared from the organisms isolated. Thirteen patients were treated 

 with the bacterial vaccines; of these, 64 per cent showed signs of 

 improvement. 



A series of patients treated prophylactically with pollen ejctract alone 

 showed decided improvement. The administration of vaccines follow- 

 ing a previous pollen treatment resulted in seasonal cures. G. H. S. 



Equilibrium in the Combination and the Dissociation of Precipitates. 



Richard Weil. Proc. N. Y. Pathol. Soc, 1915, 15, 132-134. 



If a serum or other similar antigen be mixed with its specific precipi- 

 tating anti-serum, the resulting precipitate never exhausts completely 

 either of these two factors. Furthermore the serum of immunized ani- 

 mals sometimes contains both precipitin and precipitinogen. When a 

 chemically pure antigen, namely crystallized egg albumen, is mixed 

 with its specific anti-serum, a precipitate forms. The supernatant 

 liquid can always be shown to contain one of the two factors, either egg 

 albumen or antibody, but never both at the same time. Therefore it 

 is concluded that under proper experimental conditions the precipita- 

 tion reaction goes on to complete exhaustion of one factor and that equi- 

 librium in the sense of mass action, does not exist. The results of earlier 

 observations are therefore explained by the presence of a multiplicity 

 of antigens and antibodies, as was first suggested by Von Dungern. 

 Furthermore the presence of a third colloid, such as rabbit serum, does 

 not interfere with the completeness of the reaction. 



In the subsequent discussion Dr. Weil stated that by heating a pre- 

 cipitin to 72° it is possible to deprive it completely of its precipitating 

 property while the sensitizing value is retained almost unimpaired.— 

 W. J. M. 



