GENERAL PHENOMENA OF IMMUNITY 31 



be assumed that this method of non-specific treatment is of con- 

 clusively proven value, but the effects observed in a certain per- 

 centage of cases offers the hope that the method may be so perfected 

 as to give improved results. 



The general reaction following subcutaneous injection of these 

 substances may or may not be severe, but if they are administered 

 by the intravenous route the reaction is likely to be pronounced. 

 Frequently a chill appears and almost all cases develop fever which 

 may be very high. Sometimes there is a general feeling of discom- 

 fort associated with headache and nausea. In typhoid fever it is 

 reported that hemorrhages not infrequently occur as the result of 

 the therapeutic use of sensitized and of non-sensitized typhoid vac- 

 cine. This does not appear in other diseases, and although pro- 

 tein substances and their cleavage products, upon injection, tend to 

 decrease the coagulation time, yet the use of blood serum in the treat- 

 ment of hemophilia often has a favorable effect in preventing hemor- 

 rhage. In addition to the possibility of hemorrhage in typhoid fever 

 there are definite contraindications to this form of therapy in preg- 

 nancy, in patients with organic heart disease, and in those with high 

 blood-pressure. The influence of this non-specific method of treat- 

 ment is not clearly understood. The question as to whether or not 

 the known forms of antibodies are liberated or stimulated has been 

 studied by numerous workers with contradictory results. Some 

 have found an increase of agglutinins and precipitins for the specific 

 organisms concerned in the disease, following non-specific protein 

 injections, but this is contradicted by other workers. Regardless of 

 the question of stimulation of special immune bodies it is important 

 to know what other protective influences may be set at work. 



Fever is a common incident of the injection of proteins or pro- 

 tein products, especially when they are given intravenously. This 

 is sometimes accompanied by leucocytosis, but neither leucocytosis, 

 marked acceleration of pulse-rate, nor the other clinical accompani- 

 ments of fever necessarily appear. It has been demonstrated that 

 increased temperature aids in the production of agglutinins and bac- 

 teriolytic substances. In most instances the degree of temperature 

 reached in fever has no deleterious effect directly upon the bacteria 

 concerned, except possibly in the case of infections with the 

 gonococcus and with the spirochete of relapsing fever. It has 

 been suggested that high body temperature may favor the com- 

 bination of the antigen and immune substances, but this has not 

 been conclusively demonstrated. The injection of proteins may lead 

 to an increase in the number of circulating leucocytes, although this 

 is not invariably the case. The influence of such a hyper-leucocytosis 

 in combating infection is at least partly because of the fact that 

 these cells ingest and destroy bacteria. Nevertheless, certain 

 infectious diseases, such as typhoid fever, may run their course 

 without exhibiting leucocytosis, and it is therefore not essential for 

 recovery that the leucocytes be increased in number. It must be 



