474 PROTEIN POISONS 



nervous manifestation, she determined to eat them con- 

 tinuously, in order, as she said, "to break herself of the 

 nervous habit." After the first week no unpleasant symp- 

 toms whatever were noted following the daily use of this 

 article of diet. This appeared to the patient to be an 

 entirely satisfactory proof of the effectiveness of Christian 

 Science, and yet the phenomenon is explainable on a 

 rational basis. The daily use of strawberries had led 

 to an exhaustion of the special ferment in her body, and 

 subsequent indulgence was consequently not followed by 

 untoward symptoms. Whether or not the experience was 

 repeated during the succeeding summer we have not been 

 able to ascertain. 



In conclusion, we may state that sensitization primarily 

 represents an important phenomenon of lytic immunity. 

 Sensitization occurs whenever a foreign protein as such 

 gains entrance into the fluids and tissue of the body, and 

 results from the development within the body of a special 

 ferment which will attack the particular protein introduced. 

 When individuals become sensitized through the introduc- 

 tion of dead protein substances, such as egg albumen or 

 horse serum, the results obtained prove unfavorable to the 

 individual. In these cases our attempt should be to bring 

 about a desensitization of the individual through the 

 exhaustion of the special ferment. On the other hand, 

 sensitization occurring as a result of the entrance of bacterial 

 cells into the body represents a beneficial process, and 

 plays an important part in the development of active 

 immunity to the specific infections. Since, under ordinary 

 circumstances, pathogenic bacteria represent the only 

 proteins which gain entrance into the body in an unchanged 

 state, we may conclude that sensitization arises as an 

 attempt of nature to protect the individual against bacterial 

 disease. 



