THE ANTHRAX PROTEIN 193 



animal to the disease, after which the bacillus is able to 

 continue the elaboration of its poison in the body. 



Petermann 1 repeated Hankin's experiments, and obtained 

 an albumose which elevates the temperature from one to 

 two degrees, but is otherwise without poisonous effects and 

 without protective influence against the anthrax bacillus. 

 Hankin and Wesbrook 2 repeated and modified the experi- 

 ments of the former, and reached the following conclusions: 

 (1) The anthrax bacillus elaborates a proteolytic ferment 

 by means of which albumose may be formed from proteins, 

 but these have no immunizing action. (2) The bacillus 

 produces another albumose which is not due to the soluble 

 ferment, but to an intracellular ferment. (3) This albumose 

 was obtained in a relatively pure condition. This was done 

 by growing the bacillus in a solution of pure peptone. It 

 confers partial immunity against anthrax, when given in 

 small doses to mice. (4) To animals susceptible to anthrax 

 this albumose, in ordinary doses at least, is not poisonous. 



(5) Those animals which are relatively immune to anthrax, 

 such as the rat and frog, are easily poisoned by this albumose. 



(6) On the contrary, young rats which are susceptible to 

 anthrax are not poisoned by this substance. 



Klemperer 3 obtained from cultures of the anthrax bacillus 

 a substance which caused elevation of temperature when 

 injected subcutaneously, but which was not submitted to 

 further investigation. Brieger and Frankel^ endeavored 

 to prepare a tox-albumin from the organs of animals dead 

 of anthrax. They cut the tissue into fine pieces, rubbed 

 up with water, allowed to stand for twelve hours in an ice- 

 box, and filtered through porcelain. The filtrate was 

 concentrated in vacuo at 30 to one- third its volume, and 

 after being acidified with a few drops of acetic acid, was 

 treated with ten times its volume of absolute alcohol. The 

 mixture was then allowed to stand twelve hours longer in 

 an ice-box, after which the precipitate was collected on a 



1 Ann. de 1'Institut Pasteur, 1892, vi, 32. 2 Ibid., vi, 633. 



3 Zeitsch. f. klin. Med., 1892, xx, 165. 

 < Berl. klin. Woch., 1890, xxvii, 241, 268, 1133. 

 13 



