THE TOXINE OF SYMPTOMATIC ANTHRAX. 131 



anaerobically on macerated flesh or ox serum, and found in the 

 filtrate after seven days a poison with a specific action, which 

 killed guinea-pigs in doses of 5 to 6 c.c. It had no protective 

 action against living bacilli. 



ARLOiNG, 1 in his latest researches on immunisation against 

 symptomatic anthrax, makes no mention of any toxine being 

 formed by the bacteria. 



Our knowledge of this otherwise practically unknown poison 

 has been greatly enlarged by the recent monograph of GRASS- 

 BERGER and ScHATTENFROH. 2 Their results show that a true 

 toxine is produced by the bacillus of symptomatic anthrax which 

 had not been discovered by the researches of previous workers. 

 They find that the formation of the toxine by the bacillus only 

 takes place under certain definite conditions, notably when the 

 micro-organism shows itself as a typical producer of butyric acid. 

 For this purpose the presence of fermentable sugar, or still 

 better of calcium lactate, in the culture medium is a primary 

 necessity. It very frequently happens that there is no formation 

 of toxine at all ; the " denaturalised " micro-organisms are no 

 longer able to ferment the lactic acid and produce no trace of 

 toxine. In such cases the power of sporulation may be either 

 restricted or retained in full vigour. On the other hand, there 

 may be an energetic formation of toxine in a quiet after- 

 fermentation in which chiefly the lactic acid is decomposed, 

 while none was formed in the first vigorous fermentation, and 

 this may also occur in cultivations which are free from sugar but 

 contain lactic acid. A further point of the utmost importance 

 is the purity of the cultures, since other bacteria apparently 

 injure the very unstable toxine. A temperature of about 37 C. 

 is also necessary for the production of the toxine. The formation 

 of toxine by the bacillus of symptomatic anthrax is a true free 

 secretion. Filtration through infusorial earth was found to be 

 the best means of separating the toxine from micro-organisms, 

 since more compact filters absorbed too much of the poison. 



The effects of the toxine on guinea-pigs are similar to those 

 caused by infection with symptomatic anthrax viz., oedema, 

 areas of haemorrhage, lowering of the temperature, oedema of 

 the lungs in fact all the general symptoms of toxine poisoning. 

 The period of incubation is only a few hours, while the disease 

 lasts for two to four days or, after very large doses, six to seven 

 hours. 



1 Arloing, " Serotherapie du charbon symptomatique," Comptes Rend., 

 cxxx., 548, 1900; cxxxi., 319, 1900. 



2 Grassberger and Schattenfroh, Ueber das Rauschbrand, 1904. 



