BACTERIOLYSIS AND ALLIED PHENOMENA IQ7 



with an emulsion of the sciatic nerves of frogs develops in its 

 serum a substance which leads, when injected into frogs, to the 

 rapid production of symptoms of paralysis, which may become 

 complete, and resemble Landry's paralysis in man. Most of the 

 animals die in from twelve to forty-eight hours, and their nerves 

 show fragmentation of the axis cylinders, multiplication of the 

 nuclei in the sheath of Schwann, etc. The serum is also 

 haemolytic for frog's corpuscles, but neither normal serum nor a 

 simple haemolytic serum produce these paralytic symptoms. 



The suggestion has been made that sympathetic ophthalmia 

 might be due to a specific cytotoxin formed by the disintegration 

 and absorption of the iris and ciliary body in the injured eye 

 (Bram Pusey). There is a certain amount of experimental proof 

 in favour of this interesting theory. Thus Le Play and Corpechot 

 prepared an ophthalmotoxic serum, and found that animals 

 injected therewith were less resistant than normal animals to 

 injections of B.pyocyaneus into the anterior chamber. The subject 

 has been more fully investigated by Golovine, who prepared his 

 serum by injecting into rabbits an emulsion of the ciliary bodies 

 of the dog (twelve to twenty in each animal). The ophthalmo- 

 toxic serum thus obtained was tested by injection into the anterior 

 chamber. It led to the production of a slight pericorneal injection, 

 a fibrinous exudate into the anterior chamber, and some appear- 

 ances of iritis. Microscopically it was found that the ciliary 

 processes presented evidence of inflammation and degeneration, 

 being infiltrated with leucocytes containing granules of pigment. 

 There was also marked evidence of degeneration of the epithelium 

 covering these processes. When the serum was injected into the 

 veins the macroscopic effects were not observed, but similar 

 microscopic changes were noted in the epithelium. 



The pigment taken up by the leucocytes was derived from the 

 ciliary processes, which may become almost absolutely decolourized. 

 Hence Golovine holds that his serum contains not only a specific 

 cyclotoxin, but also a pigmentolysin. 



Other cytolytic sera have been prepared, but are not of much 

 interest. A reference may be made to thyrotoxic serum, which 

 has been used in the treatment of exophthalmic goitre, though 

 without any considerable success. Indeed, the use of cytolytic 

 sera has proved most disappointing in practice. An anti-epithelial 

 serum which was very early suggested as a cure for cancer, but 

 proved inefficacious, and others have been tried. There are very 



