XXVI. REVIEW OF BESREDKA'S STUDY, "LES ANTI- 

 HEMOLYSINES NATURELLES." l 



By H. T. MARSHALL, M.D., and Dr. J. MORGENROTH.* 



THE chief result of Besredka's study is the following conclusion: 

 The serum of sick and healthy persons contains an antihcemolysin, in 

 the form of a simple antiamboceptor, which acts exclusively on the 

 specific ambocepter fitting human blood. The amboceptor used in 

 this author's experiments, and conceived as strictly Unitarian, was 

 derived from a goat treated with human blood. Antihsemolysins 

 which protect the blood-cells of species othe*r than man against hsemoly- 

 sins are not present in human serum, and the rule that the normal 

 antihsemolysin, Le., the antiamboceptor of a serum, always protects 

 only its own blood-cells, is of general application. 



It was easy for us to show by experiments that the last generaliza- 

 tion is entirely untenable. The most varied kinds of sera (thus 

 especially horse serum) protect human blood-cells against specific 

 hsemolysins, 3 and conversely, according to our experiments, human 

 serum protects ox blood-cells. 



It is absolutely necessary, above all, to get the two false premises 

 out of the way which give rise to all of Besredka's mistakes. This 

 is a simple matter, for these premises were possible only because the 

 experiments which had long since show 7 n them to be untenable were 

 ignored. The two erroneous premises are: 



1 . All the amboceptors obtained by injecting any species whatsoever 

 with a particular species of blood are entirely identical. Thus Bes- 

 redka assumes that if different species, e.g., rabbits, guinea-pigs, 



' Annal. de 1'Institut Pasteur. Oct. 1901, 



2 From a detailed study, '* Uber Anticomplemente und Antiamboceptoren 

 normaler Sera und pathologischer Exsudate," appearing in Zeitschrift fur 

 klinische Medicin, where the experimental part is to be found. 



3 See our experiments in Zeitschr. fiir klin. Medicin, Table III. 



283 



