298 KAN-ICHIRO MOmSHIMA 



interpret as meaning that the agar strain has lost its receptors for the 

 absorption of the specific agglutinin and this inability to absorb agglu- 

 tinin they, indeed, demonstrated by experiment. Park and his col- 

 laborators have studied these relationships particularly with the 

 dysentery bacilli, and Park and Williams (1917) make the following 

 statement: 



"The maltose fermenting paradysentery bacillus of Flexner was 

 grown on each of eleven consecutive days in fresh bouillon solutions 

 of the serum from a horse immunized through repeated injections 

 of the bacillus. The solutions used were 15, 4 and 1.5 per cent. The 

 serum agglutinated the culture before its treatment in dilutions up to 

 1 to 800, and was strongly bactericidal in animals. After the eleven 

 transfers the culture grown in the 15 per cent solution ceased to be 

 agglutinated by the serum and ceased to absorb its specific agglutinins. 

 The cultures grown in the 15 and 4 per cent dilutions of serum agglu- 

 tinated well in dilutions up to 1 to 60 and 1 to 100, and continued to 

 absorb agglutinins. The recovery of the capacity to be agglutinated 

 was very slow, the cultures being transplanted from time to time on 

 nutrient agar; after growth for sixteen weeks, during which it was 

 transplanted forty-three times, it agglutinated in dilutions of 1 to 200. 

 The culture grown in 4 per cent agglutinated in 1 to 500 dilution, and 

 the one in 1.5 per cent in 1 to 800." 



And in their new edition (seventh edition, (1920)) they say: 



"The agglutinogenic power, or power to stimulate the production of 

 other antibodies, is not lowered when bacteria become less agglutinable." 



The presence of a capsule may interfere w^ith or prevent agglutination. 

 The capsule, developing best in body-fluid or tissues is probably a pro- 

 tective substance. Porges (1905a,b) has outlined a method for the 

 removal of the capsule as a preliminary to agglutination. 



Eisenberg (1913) studying a typhoid strain carried along in blood 

 bouillon for a considerable period, found similar development of inag- 

 glutinability. And Schmidt (1903) has cited a case of a typhoid 

 bacillus isolated from human disease in which inagglutinability led to 

 prolonged error of diagnosis. Bail working with typhoid bacilli culti- 

 vated from the peritoneal exudate of infected guinea pigs showed that 

 under such conditions the organism loses a considerable degree of its 

 agglutinability and attributes this to the development of a capsule-like 

 substance which insulates the bacteria against the antibodies. 



A definite loss of agglutinability under similar circumstances was 

 noted by Zinsser and Dwyer (1918) in connection with experiments 



