XXIX. THE ENDOTOXIN OF THE WHOOPING-COUGH 



BACILLUS.* 



By DR. BORDET. 



In the recent studies on whooping-cough with Dr. Gcngou we 

 have succeeded in obtaining an endotoxin from the organism which 

 we isolated some time ago, and which is the cause of this disease. 



We already possess considerable knowledge concerning the endo- 

 toxins of bacteria. Certain bacteria diffuse the poisons that they 

 form readily, as, for example, the tetanus bacillus and B. diph- 

 theria"; other bacteria, as the typhoid bacillus, retain the toxin 

 within their bodies. Certain particular proceedings, then, are neces- 

 sary to remove these active substances from the bacterial bodies. 

 No absolute line of demarcation can indeed be drawn between 

 diffusible toxins and endotoxins, and there are all degrees in the 

 ease with which the poisons leave the bacterial bodies and appear 

 in the surrounding fluid, depending on the organism under con- 

 sideration. 



In immunizing animals with an endotoxin, it is desirable to 

 obtain it in a clear solution without the presence of the bacterial 

 bodies themselves. In many instances it is of importance to 

 immunize against the poison, particularly, and the presence of the 

 bacterial bodies themselves gives a useless and often unpleasant 

 complication. Too great amounts of bacteria wear out the animals, 

 lead to suppuration, and, what is more, the immunity against the 

 toxin is more easily obtained when the bodies that form it are not 

 present; it would seem to diffuse better throughout the animal 

 body and to stimulate more those cells which have to do with the 

 elaboration of antitoxins. For example, we find in the case of 

 the typhoid bacillus that a subcutaneous injection of the bacteria 

 themselves produces no anti-endotoxin; the endotoxin must first 



* L'endotoxine coquelucheuse. Bulletin de la Societe" Royale des Sciences 

 M£dicales et Naturelles de Bruxelles, No. 7, 1908. 



488 



