156 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION B. 
ally increasing doses, into large animals suitable for the pur- 
pose, e.g., the horse. In course of time the blood serum of 
the animal becomes strongly bactericidal and antitoxic, and 
by frequent bleeding a continual supply of the serum can 
be obtained. Standardisation of the serum is effected by 
injecting various doses of the serum into test animals, and 
following this with a virulent culture of the bacterium, or 
a lethal dose of the toxine in question. By noting the effect 
upon the test animals, the amount of serum necessary to 
immunise against the bacteria or toxine for a certain body- 
weight is determined. 
A Panacea for Bacterial Diseases. 
As our knowledge increases the antitoxines and bacteri- 
cidal sera will doubtless become simplified. Already Em- 
merich and Low have prepared an enzyme from Bact. 
pyocyaneum, which destroys most of the species of patho 
genic bacteria by dissolving their cell-walls or protecting 
capsules. By artificially forming a nondiffusible albumi- 
noid compound with the enzyme, they claim to have been 
able to confer upon animals an immunity lasting several 
weeks, thus enabling them to withstand infection with 
different virulent bacteria. An antitoxic action is also 
claimed for this preparation. 
Gamaleia had already shown that certain alkaloids, and 
especially the ammonia salts of glutamic acid, produce a 
destruction of the staining power of bacteria. If a solution 
in which this occurs is precipitated with acetic acid, the 
precipitate dissolved in ammonia, and added to cultures of 
pathogenic bacteria, there is obtained a bacteriolysin which 
dissolves bacteria. We thus see that a simplification of the 
bactericidal sera is claimed by these investigators, and it 
seems probable that we shall soon have a panacea for all 
the bacterial ills to which this flesh is heir. 
