AMBOCEPTOR, COMPLEMENT, AND ANTICOMPLEMENT. 265 



complement, and the amount of complement and that of anticom- 

 plement required remain in the same ratio. A definite relation there- 

 fore exists in every grade of amboceptor saturation between the amount 

 of complement and that of anticomplement required. This is in con- 

 trast to the great differences which appear when the occupation 

 with amboceptors varies. The relation just described indicates that 

 we are here dealing with a chemical process following stoichiometric laws. 



We should like to mention further that this peculiar behavior observed by 

 us is of some importance in refuting an objection made by Gruber (1. c.) against 

 Wechsberg. As is well known, Gruber believed he had shown that in the 

 bactericidal sera anticomplements were present produced by the immuniza- 

 tion. This he held to be very important, since according to his view it showed 

 that the deflection of complements by excess of amboceptors, which had been 

 described by Xeisser and Wechsberg, was incorrect. This is not the place to 

 enter into the great improbability of Gruber's deductions, for this has already 

 been well pointed out by Wechsberg, by Lipstein, 1 and by Levaditi. 2 Wechs- 

 berg 3 repeated Gruber's experiments, but was unable to confirm his results. 

 Sachs also was unable to do this. Gruber has now objected to Wechsberg's 

 work on the score of a gross error, saying that Wechsberg worked with weakly 

 sensitized blood-cells, whereas he had used strongly sensitized blood-cells. 

 Wechsberg had therefore used considerably more complement than he, and 

 had in consequence required much more anticomplement for neutralization, 

 so that the presence of small quantities of anticomplement could easily have 

 escaped Wechsberg. 



From what has been said above, however, Just the contrary occurs; with alloio- 

 genic sera larger amounts of anticomplement are used. That the anticomple- 

 ment which would be produced artificially by injections of bacteria (even if 

 that be regarded as conceivable) would eminently be alloiogenic need not 

 further be emphasized. It is shown by Table VIII that the conditions which 

 Gruber assumed to exist do not obtain, even with an isogenic anticomplement, 

 in Gruber's case (human blood -f human-blood rabbit + rabbit serum). It is 

 unnecessary to enter further into Gruber's objections, for Wechsberg 4 has 

 succeeded through the demonstration of complementophile amboceptoids in 

 finding the source of the differences. These amboceptoids have meantime 

 been found independently by E. Xeisser and Friedemann 5 and by P. Th. Muller. 8 



It is immaterial in judging of this phenomenon whether in the anticomple- 

 mentary sera used by Gruber the diverting amboceptoids developed as a result 

 of long standing or under the influence of too high an inactivating temperature. 

 The main thing is that even the phenomenon observed by Gruber and used 



1 Lipstein, see pages 132 et seq. 



2 Levaditi, Compt. rend. Soc. de Biol. 1902, No. 25. 



3 Wechsberg, Wiener klin. Wochenschr. 1902, Nos. 13 and 28. 



4 Ibid. 



* Neisser and Friedemann, Berl. klin. Wochenschr. 1902, No. 29. 

 8 P. Th. Muller, Munch, med. Wochenschr. 1902, No. 32. 



