ATHREPTIC IMMUNITY 137 



but which loses its resistance when kept at a temperature at which 

 the organism will normally develop outside of the body. Conversely 

 it has been noted that frogs which under natural conditions, i. e., 

 at low temperatures, readily fall prey to infection with the Bacillus 

 ranicida, are immune to the same organism if kept at a temperature 

 of 25 C. Of the same order, no doubt, is the immunity of chickens 

 to anthrax, which disappears when the animals are kept immersed 

 in water of 25 C., their normally high temperature being reduced 

 in this manner. In cases such as these the modus operandi of the 

 temperature changes upon immunity or infection seems relatively 

 simple, while in others it is certainly of a more complex order. 



It is thus a well-known fact that man and other animals after 

 exposure to cold are more prone to infection with a number of different 

 organisms, which find their optimum condition for growth at the 

 normal temperature of the body. The underlying causes of the 

 change in resistance in such cases are apparently different, but what 

 the mechanism is we do not know. We can readily imagine, however, 

 that functional disturbances may be set up in the macroorganism 

 by the cold which in some manner operate to the advantage of the 

 microorganism. It is not excluded, of course, that in the instances 

 of immunity mentioned above, something similar may not also 

 occur, but the simple explanation that has been offered cannot be 

 overlooked. 



Athreptic Immunity. In other cases the resistance to infection 

 may be referable to the existence of unfavorable conditions of 

 nutrition. A number of observations have taught us that certain 

 organisms require certain specific foodstuffs for their development, 

 in addition to others which are necessary to all forms of life of that 

 order, and unless these are present successful growth cannot take 

 place and immunity would accordingly result. Immunity of this 

 type is spoken of as athreptic immunity. 



Ehrlich first suggested this term to denote the peculiar behavior 

 of mouse cancer when transplanted into rats. At first active growth 

 takes place, so that at the end of eight or ten days the size of the 

 tumor does not differ from control tumors in mice. After that, 

 however, further growth ceases and resorption takes place. If, 

 now, /. e., at a time when active growth no longer occurs in rat A a 

 transplant be made to another rat, /?, the graft does not develop. But 

 if a mouse be inoculated instead, active growth takes place, and 



