138 TOXINES AND ANTITOXINES. 



the same solution remained at liberty. This showed that the 

 lysine and toxine were discrete. 



LuBENAU, 1 too, found that an old pyocyaneus cultivation 

 (twenty-one months) had a very pronounced hsemolytic action \ 

 it was strongly alkaline ; neutralisation perceptibly weakened 

 the hsemolytic function, but did not destroy it. 



LOEW and KozAi 2 found that the admission of air and the 

 addition of sugar promoted the formation of pyocyanolysine. 



According to BREYMANN the lysine, resists the action of heat. 



COLILYSINE. 



A principle that attacked the corpuscles of the blood, and was 

 not destroyed by heat, was discovered by KAYSER 3 in cultivations 

 of B. coli. 



It is produced when the reaction of the liquid is very faintly 

 acid. Its action is most pronounced upon the blood of the dog, 

 and then upon that of the horse, ox, and rabbit, while it has 

 little or no effect upon the blood of man, the guinea-pig, sheep, 

 goose, and pigeon. The order of the degree of activity upon the 

 different kinds of blood differs from that of sfcaphylolysine. 



The poison is present in filtered cultivations of three days' 

 growth, not in the cells of the bacteria. The haemolysis is not 

 preceded by agglutination. 



The lysine can resist a temperature of 120 C. for thirty 

 minutes without injury. It combines with the erythrocytes in 

 the cold like a true toxine, and, on warming, solution takes place. 

 Its stability on keeping varies very considerably. 



On subcutaneous injection there is formed in the organism an 

 antilysine which is stable at 56 C. Moreover, " healing " i.e., 

 restriction of haemolysis when once commenced can be effected 

 by means of antilysine (cf. Tetanolysine). Normal serum, 

 especially that of the horse, also contains the antilysine. 



STAPHYLOLYSINE. 



The history of the investigation of the staphylococci poisons 

 and their role is, in the main, a description of the same labyr- 

 ynthine paths as have usually been followed in the examination 



1 Lubenau, " Hamolyt. Fahigkeiten einzelner pathog. Schizomyceten," 

 Centralbl.f. Bakt., xxx., 356. 



2 Loew and Kozai, " Ueb. d. Bild. des Pyocyanolysins," Malys Jb., 

 xxxi., 912, 1901. 



3 Kayser, "Ueb. Bakterienhamolysine, bes. d. Colilysin," Ze.it. f. Hyg., 

 xlii., 118, 1903. 



