ANAPnVLAMS Oh' ALIJ<:R(!Y \'.)7 



both (lofiiiilo similarities and diffcrcncos/^" which havo been discussed 

 by Loewit;'" chief of these differences is the alxsence of the broiicliial 

 spasm with puhnonary empliysema which is characteristic of anaiili}'- 

 laxis in guinea-pigs. 



Tlie nnajihyhictic j^oison wouhl seem to be after the order of the 

 alkak)i(hd poisons, at least from the pharmacological standpoint, since 

 it protluces its effects quickl}^, and these effects, no matter how severe, 

 are strictl}'" transitory, passing off completely in a few hours, which 

 indicates that (hke morphine, strychnine, etc.) they do not produce 

 any deep-seated structural alterations in the tissues. According 

 to Schultz^^ ^i^Q chief effects are directly on the smooth muscles. 

 Such anatomical alterations as are produced, of which hemorrhages 

 and waxy degeneration of the voluntary muscles of respiration'^ are 

 most noticeable, are ascribable to the effect on respiration, which in 

 the guinea-pig often amounts to total asphyxiation through spasm 

 of the musculature of the bronchioles (Auer and Lewis) ■'^^ with pro- 

 found permanent emphysematous distension of the lungs. This effect 

 is peripheral, and is inhibited by atropine. '' Calcium salts also reduce 

 anaphylactic reactions. ''' The poisonous fraction obtained from pro- 

 teins by Vaughan's method resembles anaphylatoxin in that it causes 

 a fall in blood pressure by paralyzing the vasomotor endings in the 

 blood vessels (Edmunds'^). It also produces local urticaria when 

 rubbed into the skin and behaves much like histamine, with which, 

 however, it is not identical. One gram of casein yields enough of 

 Vaughan's poison to kill 800 guinea-pigs, and the poison seems to 

 contain most of the aromatic radicals of the proteins. There is also 



^^ It has been found that organ extracts are especially toxic to animals, but 

 that this toxicity may be suppressed by a minute dose, for a few minutes later 

 large doses can be injected with impunitj', although the blood of the animal is 

 highly toxic during the immune period, which is of brief duration. This condi- 

 tion is called skepto-phylnxis. (See Lambert, Ancel and Bouin, Compt. Rend. 

 Acad.^ Sci., 1911 (154), 21.) Yaughan reports the finding in normal tissues of 

 substances rcsemliling his "protein poisons," which perhaps come from autolysis 

 or tissue metabolism and mav be related to the "primary toxicity" of organ ex- 

 tracts. N. R. Smith (Jour. Lab. Clin. Med., 1919 (4), '517, full review) would 

 attribute this toxicity to the inorganic constituents of the extracts, especially 

 the phosphorus compounds. 



" Arch. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 1913 (73), 1. See also DeKruif and Eggerth, 

 Jour. Infect. Dis., 1919 (24), 505. 



32 Bull. Hvg. Lai)., U. S. P. H. and M. H. Service, 1912 (80), 1. 



" See Cent. f. Pathol., 1912 (23), 945. 



^* In the rabbit the effects seem to be produced chiefl\' by spasm of the pul- 

 monary arteries (Coca, Jour. Immunol., 1919 (4), 219) while the predominant 

 hepatic and portal effects in dogs is attributed to the highlj' developed musculature 

 of their hepatic veins bv Simonds (Jour. Amer. INIed. Assoc, 1919 (73), 1437). 



^Mour. Exp. Med.,' 1910 (12), 151; Schultz, Jour. Pharm. and Exp. Ther., 

 1913 (3), 299. 



3«Kastle, Healy and Buckner, Jour. Infcc. Dis., 1913 (12), 127. 



" Zeit. Immunitiit., 1913 (17), 105. See also Underhill and Hendrix, Jour. 

 Biol. Chem., 1915 (22), 465. 



