THE SENSITIZERS OF SERA. 251 



(Nolf,* Mijers, f F. Hamburger, J Van Steenberghe, § Leblanc||). It 

 is difficult to determine the effect on the albumins; F. Hamburger 

 claims to have obtained a coagulin for lactalbumin, Mijers one for 

 egg albumin, and Leblanc one for serum albumin; but Nolf, on the 

 other hand, could obtain no coagulin for serum albumin. 



We have made a few observations along this line, restricting 

 ourselves to the action of rabbit >. dog serum and rabbit > milk 

 serum on the separable substances of their respective antigens. 



The effect of rabbit > dog serum on the globulins and the albumins 

 of dog serum. — We separated the globulins from dog serum by 

 saturation with magnesium sulphate. After redissolving in dis- 

 tilled water the globulins were again precipitated by sodium chlo- 

 ride; this precipitation was repeated twice and the final globulins 

 were dissolved in a volume of distilled water to equal their original 

 serum volume. Solution is made possible by the NaCl taken down 

 by the globulins. 



The albumin is obtained from the fluid of the original precipita- 

 tion with magnesium sulphate by adding acetic acid, and is redis- 

 solved in normal salt solution ; the fluid is then neutralized to litmus 

 by the addition of a few drops of 2 per cent NaOH. 



With these two products, two series of tubes are prepared con- 

 taining mixtures of normal rabbit serum or specific rabbit serum 

 with and without rabbit alexin. In the mixtures without alexin 

 the sensitized hen corpuscles added 5 hours later remain intact ; in 

 other words, the solutions of globulins and albumins employed were 

 not in themselves hemolytic. In the mixture of normal rabbit 

 serum and alexin hemolysis occurred; there is no hemolysis, however, 

 in the mixtures containing rabbit > dog serum. 



It would seem, then, that rabbit > dog serum will fix rabbit alexin 

 with either the globulin or the albumin of dog serum. We do 

 not wish, however, to attach too much significance to this experi- 

 ment, which we were unfortunately unable to repeat owing to lack 

 of material. 



The effect of rabbit > milk serum on casein, lactoglobulin and 



* Nolf, Annales de lTnstitut Pasteur, 1900. 



f Mijers, loc. cit. 



t F. Hamburger, Wien. klin. Wochens., 1901, p. 1202. 



§ Van Steenberghe, Annales de lTnstitut Pasteur, 1901. 



|| Leblanc, La Cellule, t. XVIII, 2nd fascic. 



