THE SCIENCE AND ART OF PROTEAL THERAPY 163 



the whole, a very simple one. It may readily be duplicated in 

 any laboratory having a moderate equipment for physiological 

 chemistry. 



The proteins thus prepared contain alkali albumens, proteoses, 

 and a variable quantity of peptones. It is obvious that the rela- 

 tive percentages of the products of partial hydrolysis will vary 

 with the degree of concentration of acids in the original medium 

 and the length of time of boiling. The whole-plant products, 

 like alfalfa meal, being boiled in weaker acid solution, are less 

 extensively hydrolyzed, and their proteins have been observed 

 to be much more likely to produce a local anaphylactic response. 

 Whether there are compensatory advantages in this is a ques- 

 tion that I am not as yet prepared to answer definitely; but I 

 have observed a good many cases in which the local reaction 

 appeared to be followed by a beneficial systemic response. 



In this connection it may be observed that the earlier ex- 

 tracts, prepared without boiling, in simple salt solution or in 

 solutions of sodium hydroxide, and containing the full-sized pro- 

 tein molecule, produced a much more severe local reaction, and 

 occasionally a general anaphylactic reaction; and that it was at 

 first supposed that the production of a pronounced reaction was 

 therapeutically desirable. The independent workers who in June, 

 1916, and subsequently reported the use of proteoses and of 

 bacterial vaccines as non-specific agents, as in the treatment of 

 typhoid fever and arthritis, have employed a dosage (one or two 

 c.c. of a four per cent, albumen solution) that produced very 

 marked systemic effects, as well as a pronounced leucocytosis ; 

 and some of them at least have associated the observed clinical 

 benefits with the febrile reaction. 



I have no doubt that there are cases where heroic dosage is 

 desirable, but in general the application of Proteal therapy, as 

 I use it, calls for small doses, not producing marked systemic 

 reactions. 



The Proteal that has been used most extensively during the 

 past year and a half, and sent out from my laboratory in largest 

 quantities to members of the profession, is No. 45, the combina- 

 tion of equal parts of the proteins of alfalfa seed, alfalfa meal, 

 and millet seed. The same combination with the addition of the 

 proteins of rape seed and mustard seed bears the laboratory num- 

 ber 65. A newer combination, much less extensively tested as yet, 

 contains the proteins of red clover seed, cotton seed, flax seed, 

 hemp seed, and carrot seed, and bears the number 75. A still 

 more comprehensive combination, containing equal parts of the 

 proteins of the ten different types just listed (a mixture, in 

 other words, of No. 65 and No. 75), is known as Proteal No. 100. 



The question naturally arises as to whether there are thera- 



