414 PROTEIN POISONS 



alkali either in watery solution or in alcohol, so that a 

 certain amount of protein degradation has occurred which 

 is apparently just sufficient to form the toxic bodies which 

 cause the acute toxic symptoms or temperature variations 

 under discussion, according to the size of the dose. The 

 work of Friedberger, Abderhalden, and others with ana- 

 phylatoxin production in vitro, and the demonstration of 

 the presence of proteolytic degradation bodies during the 

 process of the formation of toxic substance, is in favor of 

 the view that the toxin (poison) is purely a degradation 

 product of the protein simple or bacterial, as again there 

 is no specificity in the toxins (poisons) produced from the 

 various antigens (sensitizers) used. The reason why bacteria 

 have a much more potent action in such small quantities 

 would appear to be in the chemical composition of their 

 bodies, and in the presence of normal specific ferments to 

 them. Thus, according to Schittenhelm and Weichardt, 

 and our own observations from the protamine injections, 

 etc., it appears that some proteins of the normal animal 

 body are much more toxic than others, and the toxic ones 

 are those which have a high percentage of the diamino 

 bases. In the experiments brought forward here the toxicity 

 of protamine as regards producing temperature variations 

 is almost as great as that of the tubercle bacillus. This 

 is important in view of Ruppel's work showing that the 

 tubercle bacillus has a large amount of diamino bases. 

 Further, the formation of toxic substances in the case of 

 bacteria suspended in normal saline would appear to be 

 due to the formation of cleavage bodies from autolytic 

 changes, just as occurs when tissues undergo autolysis. A 

 final argument that cleavage products of protein and bac- 

 teria are the causation of temperature reactions, etc., is 

 the observation of Matthes, who showed that in a digesting 

 tuberculous animal, albumose injection gave rise to hyperemia 

 of the small intestine and around the tuberculous foci just 

 as tuberculin injection does, as we have noted in our 

 present experiments. Here we have a protein cleavage 

 product giving rise to the same effects as the specific antigen. 

 Hence it would appear that the cleavage products of the 



