ANTITOXINS 2Q 



classification, is based on a misconception of the 

 application of ammonium sulphate in separating 

 proteids by their precipitation characters. While 

 there seem to be some differences in the dis- 

 tribution of the antibodies in individual specific 

 sera in comparative experiments, this is not so 

 absolute as maintained by Pick l and others. Gib- 

 son's work on the fractionating of poly agglutina- 

 tive serum shows that no separation of the several 

 antibodies developed in an individual serum is 

 possible. In the case of antitoxic sera both Gibson 

 and Ledingham find that in goat serum the antitoxin 

 is not invariably associated with the euglobulin 

 fraction as maintained by Pick, but shows the same 

 solubilities as that in horse serum. 



Toxins and other Poisonous Cell Derivatives, in 

 General. Soon after bacteriology had demon- 

 strated the etiological connection between bacteria 

 and disease, the conviction gained ground that it 

 was less the actual destruction wrought by the 

 bacteria directly, than the injury produced by their 

 chemical products that gave rise to the lesions in 

 the infectious diseases. Brieger, especially, was 

 one of the first to direct attention to the probable / 

 existence of specific poisons in the bacteria. He 

 isolated a number of well defined chemical sub- 

 stances called ptomaines, most of which were highly 

 toxic. Subsequent study, however, showed that 



1 Pick, Beitrage z. chem Physiol. u. Pathol., Vol. i, 1901. 



