PROTEIN SENSITIZATION OR ANAPHYLAXIS 309 



It seems that all bacteria, both pathogenic and non- 

 pathogenic, at least so far as tested, yield a poison when 

 incubated with normal serum of the guinea-pig. Some are 

 acted upon or disrupted more promptly and quickly than 

 others, but with prolonged incubation all yield enough 

 of the poison to affect animals to a recognizable extent. 

 This confirms our work in which it was shown that all 

 proteins, so far as tested, yield a poisonous fraction when 

 properly disrupted by chemical agencies. It was this 

 work that led us to conclude that every protein molecule 

 contains a poisonous group. Bold and Aoki 1 have obtained 

 the poison by incubation with serum from streptococci, 

 meningococci, gonococci, b. mallei, pestis, pneumonise, 

 paratyphus, chicken cholera, swine erysipelas, yeast cells, 

 actinomyces, the spirochetes of chicken spirillosis, and 

 Russian relapsing fever. They did fail to obtain it from 

 the spores of certain molds, but this does not prove that 

 these spores do not contain a poison. It simply shows that 

 the proteins of these spores are resistant to the cleavage 

 action of the ferment contained in the normal serum of 

 the guinea-pig. 



Boehneke and Bierbaum 2 find that repeated, alternate 

 freezing and thawing have no effect upon either the substrate 

 or the ferment in the production of the poison, and no 

 effect on the poison itself. 



Bessau 3 sensitized animals simultaneously with ox and 

 horse sera. The injections were made on each side of the 

 thorax subcutaneously. After full sensitization had been 

 developed, as was demonstrated by reinjection of controls 

 which had been sensitized to only one serum, those doubly 

 sensitized were given sublethal reinjections of one of the 

 sera, and after recovery from the effect induced they were 

 found to be less susceptible to reinjections of the second 

 serum. He also determined the minimum fatal dose of 

 anaphylatoxin prepared from typhoid bacilli on fresh 



1 Zeitsch. f. Immunitatsforschung, 1912, xii, 200. 



2 Ibid., 1912, xiv, 130. 



3 Centralbl. f. Bakteriol., 1911, Ix, 637. 



