CHAPTER XIII 

 PROTEIN FEVER 1 



IT is interesting and instructive to read the older litera- 

 ture on fever in the light of the knowledge which has been 

 gained in the study of sensitization. It has long been 

 known that the parenteral introduction of proteins in small 

 amounts, and especially repeated introduction, leads to 

 fever. The older literature on this subject as well as an 

 account of his own work was given in 1883 by Roques. 2 

 In 1888, Gamaleia 3 showed quite clearly that fever accom- 

 panies and results from the parenteral digestion of bacterial 

 proteins, and a year later Charrin and Ruffer 4 confirmed 

 this work and extended it to non-bacterial proteins. In 

 1890 Buchner 5 produced the characteristic phenomena of 

 inflammation calor, rubor, tumor, and dolor by the 

 subcutaneous injection of diverse bacterial proteins. In 

 1895, Krehl and Matthes 6 induced fever by the parenteral 

 introduction of albumoses and peptones, but they did not 

 obtain constant results, which we now know are secured 

 only by regulation of the size and frequency of the dosage. 

 In 1909, Vaughan, Wheeler, and Gidley 7 demonstrated that 

 any desired form of fever (acute fatal, continued, inter- 

 mittent, or remittent) can be induced in animals by regu- 

 lating the size and frequency of the doses of foreign protein 

 administered parenterally, and in 1911, Vaughan, Gumming, 

 and Wright extended the details of this work. 



1 This chapter is taken in part from an article by Vaughan, Gumming, 

 and Wright, Zeitsch. f. Immunitatsforschung, 1911, ix, 458. 



2 Substances Thermogenes, Paris, 1883. 



3 Ann. de 1'Institut Pasteur, xii, 229. 



4 Compt. rend. Soc. de biol., 1889, 63. 

 o Berl. klin. Woch., 1890, 216. 



6 Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 1895, xxxv, 232. 



7 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., August 21, 1909. 



