PROTEIN SENSITIZATION OR ANAPHYLAXIS 215 



we now designate as anaphylaxis. He repeatedly treated 

 rabbits with protein expressed from placental cells, and 

 found that some of these died promptly on subsequent 

 injections. Furthermore, he mixed the serum of animals 

 thus treated with placental cells and obtained a soluble 

 poison which he named synzytiotoxin. Later, he showed 

 that hay fever results from the parenteral digestion of the 

 proteins of pollen. Both of these points will be discussed 

 in more detail later. Wolff-Eisner 1 discussed the theory 

 of endotoxins and their application to various diseased 

 conditions, in a very suggestive manner, but added little 

 to our exact knowledge. Richet 2 has made many valuable 

 contributions on this subject. In his first report made with 

 Portier in 1902, he worked with an extract from the ten- 

 tacles of a muscle and showed that an injection of this made 

 the animal much more susceptible to a second one. Unfor- 

 tunately, he coined the word anaphylaxis as most suitable 

 to cover this condition of increased susceptibility. He used 

 this word understanding it to mean "without protection," 

 and indicating that the first injection destroyed any natural 

 resistance that the animal might possess against the poison. 

 Now, we know that the condition of sensitization is essential 

 to certain forms of immunity, as was first indicated by 

 Vaughan and Wheeler, 3 and the inappropriateness of the 

 term anaphylaxis is self-evident. However, the word has 

 come into general use, and with this explanation we will 

 continue it. V. Pirquet 4 proposed and has continued the 

 use of the word "allergic," meaning altered energy. This 

 is much more suitable, inasmuch as it simply expresses a 

 fact and binds no one to any theory. However, "allergic" 

 has not been usually employed, and we will use "protein 

 sensitization," "hypersensitiveness," "anaphylaxis," and 

 "allergic" as synonyms. 



1 Zentralbl. f. Bakt., 1904, xxxvii; Munch, med. Woch., 1906; Derm. 

 Zentralbl., 1906; Berl. klin. Woch., 1907. 



2 Compt. rend, de la Soc. biol., 1902; Ann. de 1'Institut Pasteur, 1907, xxi, 

 497; ibid., "1908, xxiii; ibid., 1909. 



3 Jour. Infect. Dis., 1907. 



4 Munch, med. Woch., 1906. 





