Ill 



The combination between toxin and blood corpuscles 

 must therefore be regarded as still weaker than between 

 ammonia and blood corpuscles. The most obvious stand- 

 point from which to consider these facts is the follo- 

 wing. For the combination of toxin or lysin with the 

 corpuscles a certain amount of time is required. This 

 is comparatively small in the case of sodium hydrate. 

 It then a quantity of blood, too large to allow complete 

 luemolysis, is added, the sodium hydrate is fixed to the 

 blood with comparative quickness and only the surplus 

 is free to hiemolvse the combination blood-alkali. The 



j 



haemolysis therefore reaches the maximum of colour at 

 about the point where complete haemolysis occurs. First 

 in diluted solutions, where the reaction is slower and 

 the hydrolysis stronger, the sodium hydrate gains time 

 to hiemolyse some of the alkali-bound corpuscles, before 

 it is fixed to other blood corpuscles. 



The maximum occurs therefore with a larger amount 

 of blood than that which corresponds to complete haemo- 

 lysis. This is yet more the case with ammonia; this 

 has a considerably smallervelocity of reaction than sodium 



25 



