68 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



minous substances foreign to the system, effects that can also 

 be produced in an exactly similar manner by foreign albuminous 

 substances of non-bacterial origin. 



The formation of the specific precipitation ferments, the pre- 

 cipitines, after the introduction of any foreign albuminous 

 substance into an organism, is a proof that every such foreign 

 proteid is an injurious intruder which the organism endeavours 

 to overcome. Just as, according to EHRLICH'S views, all food 

 substances must find receptors in order to be assimilated, so 

 must those receptors be made adaptable to foreign proteins 

 when abnormally introduced i.e., by subcutaneous or intra- 

 venous injection so as to seize upon them and render them 

 innocuous. 



In this process general reactions, fever, &c., are of frequent 

 occurrence. And here, too, we have a means of elucidating 

 the action of bacterial proteins apart from that of any specific 

 toxic impurities that may be present. 



