370 . PROTEIN POISONS 



of our poison and of Friedberger's anaphylatoxin. As we 

 have stated more than once, parenteral digestion is a 

 normal, physiological process, and in this process the 

 protein poison is liberated. There are many proteins, not 

 all, which are digested by the normal, non-specific proteo- 

 lytic ferment of the blood and tissues. In this, in our 

 opinion, lies the explanation of the results obtained by 

 Szymanowski, 1 who has found that the intravenous injection 

 of varied protein-precipitating agents, such as copper 

 nitrate, copper sulphate, mercuric chloride, lead acetate, 

 phosphomolybdic acid, tannin, and picric acid in small 

 doses, may cause all the symptoms of acute anaphylactic 

 shock and death. In our opinion, the most probable explan- 

 ation of this is that the precipitates formed in the blood by 

 these substances act like foreign proteins and are digested 

 by the non-specific proteolytic ferment of the blood with 

 the liberation of the protein poison. 



There has been some difference of opinion as to the 

 source of the protein poison in anaphylaxis. At one time 

 HU Bfeiffieri thought that it must come from the proteins of 

 t&e-^body. kHe was led to this conclusion by the smallness 

 exfihthB)odbe of the anaphylactogen necessary to induce 

 shock on reinjection, but in his latest paper 

 the poison comes from the anaphylactogen 

 (antigafi)).fi ^or like reason Friedemann 2 was inclined to 

 fchuliepiniointhat the poison is furnished by the serum of 

 the srarfdtiHed animal, but he seems now to think that it 

 the anaphylactogen (antigen). Wassermann 

 thought that the source of the poison is in 

 the fiermertt9(amboceptor). They shook horse serum with 

 kadlfn aondxthen separated the kaolin from the horse serum 

 arfJanceigsJfeuge and digested the kaolin with guinea-pig 

 iygmaniEiii r fid .Obtained a poison. They explained this by 

 feapposmg 9$E#t the kaolin absorbed the amboceptor from 

 fcheJ koEseCEeriim, and when this was acted upon by the 



.1 i.2eitffi&. ,fo( Jhpmunitatsforschung, 1912, xvi, 1. * Ibid., ii, 591. 



3 Folia Serologica, 1911, vii. 



