GONOCOCCAL POISON. 161 



obtained toxines which, in large doses, caused death, 

 preceded by fever, diarrhoea, and loss of weight ; he claims to 

 have produced antitoxic immunity by means of innoculation 

 with cultivations weakened at 50 C.; the serum is stated to 

 neutralise the toxine in vitro. 



CARNOT 2 succeeded in producing typical croupous pneumonia 

 by intrapulmonary injection of 2 to 6 drops of pneumotoxine. 



CARNOT and FOURNIER S were able to keep pneumococci alive 

 and virulent for a long time, when they used as culture media, 

 blood, serum, or, still better, fresh cerebral substance, while 

 sterilised culture-media prepared from these were less satis- 

 factory. They separated without delay, by means of dialysis, 

 the toxines that were formed, and in this way obtained poisonous 

 dialy sates, which they concentrated by evaporation in vacuo, or 

 by precipitation with nascent calcium phosphate. The symptoms 

 produced by them were similar to those caused by poisoning 

 with the living cocci. The same investigators 4 found that their 

 poison had an intense action upon the muscular tissue of the 

 heart and blood-vessels ; even after the introduction of small doses 

 very acute inflammation and perforations were produced. 



The general conclusion to be drawn from all these observations 

 is that the existence of a secreted true pneumotoxine has not 

 been established beyond doubt. 



GONOCOCCAL POISON. 



The gonococcus also produces a poison which appears to belong 

 to the group of cholera-typhoid poisons inasmuch as it only 

 passes to a slight extent into the culture fluids, and rather is 

 mainly retained in the bacteria, and is probably only given 

 up in a slight degree to the liquid media after the decomposition 

 of the cells. The first investigations into this poison were made 



by A. WASSERMANN. 5 



He succeeded in cultivating the gonococci on a nutrient 

 medium which was prepared from pig's serum, to which had been 



1 Mennes, "Das Antipneumokokkenserum," Zeit.f. Hyg., xxv., 413, 1897. 



2 Carnot, "Reprod. experim. de la pneumonic fibrineuse," Soc. Biol., 

 li., 927, 1899. 



3 Carnot and Fournier, " Sur le pneumocoque et ses toxines," Arch. 

 Med. Exper., 1900, 357. 



4 Carnot and Fournier, "Lesions Cardiaques et musculaire par la toxine 

 pneumon.," Soc. Biol., Hi., 143, 1900. 



6 A. Wassermann, ' ' Gonokokkenkultur und Gonokokkengift," Berl. 

 klin. Woch., 1897, 685; "Weitere Mitteilungcn iiber do.," Zeit. /. Hyg., 

 xxvii., 298, 1898. 



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