138 



COLLECTED STUDIES IN IMMUNITY. 



TABLE 



Control I. YtfVu cc. bouillon culture + 2 cc. 0.5% salt solution =00. 



11 II. Active guinea-pig serum 0.1 cc. +ToW c c. bouillon culture =00. 



C. Is the Deflection of Complements Caused by Anticomplements 

 Developed by Immunization? 



The assumption that when immunizing with bacteria, antialexins 

 develop in the serum of the animals treated, and that these substances 

 exert an antibactericidal and antihsemolytic action, is made by 

 Gruber l solely for the purpose of furnishing an explanation for the 

 phenomenon not based on Ehrlich's views. Wechsberg 2 has very 

 properly pointed out that Gruber's assumption completely contradicts 

 all our previous experiences, for then neither by active nor by pas- 

 sive immunization should we benefit the organism treated, but we 

 should even injure it. The evidence on which Gruber bases this new 

 conception consists in hsemolytic test-tube experiments in which he 

 shows that bactericidal immune serum hinders the haemolysis, whereas 

 the corresponding normal serum' does not do so. Wechsberg in a 

 recent study 3 was never able to obtain this result, even with the 

 same method of making the experiment as employed by Gruber. 

 Similar negative results were obtained by H. Sachs of this institute, 

 who studied a number of immune sera for this purpose, viz., immune 

 sera against vibrio Metchnikoff, vibrio Nordhafen, staphylococcus, 



1 Wiener klin. Wochenschr., 1901, No. 50. 



2 Ibid. 



3 Ibid., 1902, No. 13. 



