Il6 NEUTRALIZATION OF POISONS 



and other organisms in the alimentary canal, and which probably 

 plays some part in the production of the symptoms of auto-intoxi- 

 cation due to abnormal digestive processes occurring in the small 

 intestine. It undergoes oxidation to indoxyl, a much less toxic 

 substance, which then combines with sulphate of potash to form 

 indoxyl-potassium-sulphate, or indican. There is reason to believe 

 that this process takes place to a very large extent in the liver, 

 one of the chief functions of which is the destruction or neutraliza- 

 tion of poisonous substances conveyed to it by the portal circula- 

 tion. Thus the toxic dose of nicotin and of some other alkaloids 

 is much less when the injection is made into the general circulation 

 than if the substance be injected into the portal vein. This, it 

 must be noticed, is not due merely to the elimination of the poison 

 in the bile, though that may happen. The liver cells have the 

 power of actually destroying certain of the alkaloids. Thus 

 hyoscyamine mixed with surviving liver pulp is rapidly destroyed. 

 In the same way, indol, phenol, and skatol, all toxic substances of 

 bacterial origin, cannot be recovered by distillation after contact 

 with liver cells. It appears, therefore, that much of the immunity 

 to non-specific poisons is dependent on the functional activity of 

 this organ, which is, so to speak, interpolated in the blood-current 

 in order that it may rid the circulation of certain poisons, and 

 that these are eliminated in the bile or submitted to various 

 chemical modifications, in the course of which they become inert, 

 or at least less toxic. 



Examples of the neutralization of poisons in the body are 

 numerous, the most important being, perhaps, the formation of 

 urea, a relatively non-toxic substance, by the synthesis of ammonia 

 and carbonic acid, followed by dehydration, this process taking 

 place mainly or entirely in the liver. Other syntheses, however, 

 take place in other organs for example, the union of glycocoll 

 and benzoic acid is performed in the kidney. And we shall see 

 subsequently that the leucocytes and leucocytic organs have a 

 very special and important duty to perform in dealing with poisons 

 of all sorts, both organic and inorganic, though the exact chemical 

 processes that they bring about are unknown. It will be more 

 convenient to defer the consideration of these cells for the 

 present. 



The exact application of these "non-specific" processes of 

 detoxication to the bacterial toxins has not yet been worked out, 

 but there can be little doubt of its great importance. Compare, 



