28 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



of frequent occurrence in nornal sera, as, for instance, diphtheria 

 antitoxins in the serum of horses (in the case of about 30 per 

 cent.). Other anti-bodies are also very frequently present in 

 normal sera, notably anti-ferments, &c. They can be separated 

 from the fluids of the body by precipitation methods similar to 

 those employed for the concentration of toxines. 



BLUM l found that lymph glands that had undergone auto-digestion were 

 antitoxic to tetanus poison, but not to diphtheria virus or cobra venom. 



Precipitation with alum and ammonia (ARONSON), with mag- 

 nesium sulphate (TizzoNi), and with solid sodium or magnesium 

 chlorides (BRIEGER and BOER), followed by a method of puri- 

 fication, yield dry preparations of antitoxines. 



The nature of antitoxines is unknown. They are probably 

 albuminous substances, but this has not been definitely proved. 

 The fact that they offer considerable resistance to the action of 

 trypsin is against this view, although they are very sensitive to 

 the action of pepsin-hydrochloric acid. Experiments to obtain 

 further proof that diphtheria is an albuminous substance, or to 

 determine to which albuminous constituent of the blood it is 

 related, have not as yet led to any conclusive result. 



Antitoxines, like toxines, are sensitive to the action of heat, 

 acids, &c., although, in general, they offer far greater resistance 

 (see Diphtheria). CAMUS 2 found that anti-snake venom and 

 anti-diphtheria poison could be heated for thirty minutes at 

 120 C. and for fifteen minutes at 140 C. without injury, 

 provided they had been dried at a lower temperature, and then 

 heated at 100 C. in a current of air. 



According to EHRLICH antitoxines are normal constituents of 

 the cells broken-off receptors and as such possess relatively 

 little physiological or chemical activity. They are not invariably 

 produced in the organs where the poison exerts its specific action, 

 but are also developed in other groups of cells. This appears to 

 be especially the case in tetanus of the rabbit (q.v.). They are 

 secreted under the stimulus of the haptophore group. EHRLICH 

 regards them as "simple uniceptors'' i.e., as substances with only 

 one haptophore group, which coincides with the corresponding 

 group of the toxine. Hence, nothing is more erroneous than to 

 ascribe to antitoxines an activity similar to that of the toxines 



1 Blum, "Ueb. Antitoxinbildung bei der Autolyse," Hofmeister's Beit- 

 rage, v., 142, 1904. 



2 Camus, "Resistance aux temper, elevees des vaccins desseche"s," Soc. 

 BioL, L, 235, 1898. 



