14 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



poisons, into toxoids (vide infra). In the case of other poisons 

 the existence of toxoids has not been established with certainty. 



All toxines are very sensitive to the influence of nearly all 

 chemical agents. 



Oxygen, even when as dilute as in the atmosphere, has a pro- 

 nounced injurious effect. When exposed to the air, especially 

 when light is also present, toxines speedily lose their virulence, 

 notably so in the case of tetanospasmine, which is greatly 

 weakened by simple nitration. 



Speaking generally, all oxidising agents, including hydrogen 

 peroxide, are very injurious. 



SiEBER 1 found that calcium peroxide completely destroyed the 

 virulence of diphtheria and tetanus poison within a few hours 

 (1,000 times the lethal dose), and also that of abrine (5,000 times 

 the lethal dose being rendered inert by 0-5 gramme of calcium 

 peroxide). He also discovered that the oxydases of animal 

 tissues acted upon bacterial toxines, but not upon abrine. More- 

 over, on simultaneous injections of oxydase and toxine, the 

 animal on which the experiment was made remained healthy. 

 A vegetable oxydase (from the yam) also proved effective, 

 although peroxydases, which only turn guaiacum blue when 

 hydrogen peroxide is also present, were inert. An interesting 

 statement made by him is that fibrin from the blood of a highly- 

 immune horse contains an oxydase that destroys diphtheria virus, 

 which is not the case with ordinary fibrin. But it is open to 

 question whether this was not some remnant of unseparated 

 antitoxine. 



A little is also known with regard to the action of other 

 chemical substances. Strong bases and acids naturally have a 

 destructive effect, and weak bases are injurious, while very 

 dilute acids, especially those of organic nature, have probably a 

 stimulating influence. The influence of neutral salts and of various 

 other substances, notably upon tetanus poison, has been studied 

 by FERMI and PERNOSSi. 2 Some have a stimulating and others 

 an injurious effect upon the toxic activity. 



Indifferent gases, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and carbon 

 monoxide, have no influence. Only in the case of hydrogen sul- 

 phide did BRIEGER S observe any injurious effect upon tetanus 



1 Sieber, " Ueber die Entgiftung der Toxine durch die Superoxyde," Z. 

 physiol. Client., xxxii., 573, 1901. 



2 Fermi and Pernossi, " Ueber das Tetanusgift," Zeit.f. Hyg., xvi., 385, 

 1894. 



3 Brieger, ' Weitere Erf ahrungen iiber Bakteriengifte," ibid., xix., Ill, 

 1895. 



