THE EFFECT OF PEPTON UPON THE PRODUCTION 

 OF TETANUS TOXIN 



HARRIET LESLIE WILCOX 



Research Laboratories, Department of Health, Ncio York City 



Received for publication December 19, 1920 



Not very long after the outbreak of the European War, labo- 

 ratory workers realized that a substitute for Witte pepton in bac- 

 teriological work would have to be obtained. Many labora- 

 tories were sufficiently stocked with this pepton for the first 

 twelve to eighteen months, but in the spring of 1915 it was evi- 

 dent that the supply of Witte pepton in the United States was 

 fast dwindling and that it would soon be unobtainable. 



WITTE PEPTON 



At the Bureau of Laboratories we had been using a Witte pep- 

 ton glucose veal broth^ with extremely satisfactory results. 

 Those who have had experience in toxm production, particularly 

 tetanus toxin, know that from time to time there will be marked 

 variation in toxicity due to some unknown factor or factors. 

 The same care may be used in the preparation of different lots 

 of broth as well as in the filtration of the toxin, but the results 

 may differ widely. In consideration of this fact it may be worth 

 while to give the different potencies of the toxin made during the 

 last three to four years when using Witte pepton glucose veal broth. 



It is the opinion of some workers that the time of year has a 

 definite influence upon the production of potent toxin. The 

 results as given above show that the seasonal factor was of nega- 

 tive importance as far as toxicity was concerned. If we compare 

 the quarterly results for the year 1915 we find that the averages . 

 did not vary greatly. The lowest average toxicity of 1:20,000 



^Wilcox, Harriet Leslie, 1916, Jour, of Bact., 1, 333. 



407 



JOURNAL OF BACTEKIOLOaY, VOL. VI, NO. 4 



