Ill 



used, to which 15 resp. 33 % fresh egg albumen have 

 been added. As usually, a 2,5 % blood dilution in NaCl 

 was used. Solutions of egg albumen, more diluted than 

 those just mentioned, have no recognisable effect. The 

 stronger solutions are signified by I and the weaker by II. 



The egg albumen has no recognisable effect upon 

 ammonia; the action upon sodium hydrate is, in the 

 case of solution I, about 20 %, in the case of solution 

 II still smaller, this applies to the highest concentra- 

 tions. It seems from the figures as if the egg albumen 

 in the lowest concentrations increased the haemolytic 

 action a little. This depends probably on the slower 

 sedimentation of the blood-corpuscles in the solutions 

 containing albumen. It is therefore very likely that if 

 this perturbing circumstance did not exist, the lowering 

 action of the egg albumen would be a little greater than 

 the experiment shows. 



Probably the action of albumen is of an exactly 

 similar nature to that of normal serum. It is a well 

 know fact that the albumens have the property of com- 

 bining with both acids and bases. It is without doubt 

 this property of the albumen which concerns us here. 

 Ammonia, as a comparatively weak base, is in this 

 dilution not able to combine with the albumen in a 

 recognisable degree, its combinations being almost 

 completely hydrolysed in such great dilutions. 



Normal sera and especially serum B have a greater 

 power of combining than egg albumen. This may 

 be attributed to, first that they may be considered as 

 stronger acids than egg albumen, and still more pro- 

 bably that each cc. of the serum contains more valencies, 

 capable of fixing bases, than 1 cc. of the egg albumen. 

 It may be noted, in this context thai serum B was 

 rather putrificd. 



45 



