Widal Reaction of Agglutination 513 



In a later contribution, Wright* shows that this pro- 

 phylactic vaccination against typhoid fever reduces the 

 number of cases, and diminishes the death-rate among the 

 inoculated. He also calls attention to the slight risk the 

 inoculated run of being injured in case their vital resistance 

 is below normal, or they are already in the early stages of 

 the disease, or where the dose administered is too large or 

 the second vaccination given too soon after the first. 



Wright's latest paperf gives new statistics on the subject. 



Walger J reports 4 cases treated successfully with a 

 serum obtained from convalescent patients. Ten cubic 

 centimeters were given at a dose, and the injection was 

 repeated in one case with relapse. 



Jez believes that the antitoxic principle in typhoid fever 

 is contained in some of the internal organs instead of the 

 blood, and claims to have obtained remarkable results in 

 1 8 cases treated with extracts of the bone-marrow, spleen, 

 and thymus of rabbits previously injected with the typhoid 

 bacillus. 



Chantemesse, || Pope,** and Steeleff have all used 

 serums from animals immunized against typhoid cultures 

 for the treatment of typhoid fever, with more or less 

 success. An analysis of the results will, however, show 

 them to be very inconclusive. 



The serum prepared by Macfadyenjf by crushing cultures 

 frozen with liquid air and injecting animals with the thus 

 liberated intracellular toxin, seems to be no improvement 

 upon others. 



The chief source of error in all the serum investigations 

 conducted up to the present time was our ignorance of the 

 conditions under which such serums act. The early prepara- 

 tions were all made under the assumption that the immune 

 typhoid serum was antitoxic. When it was more thoroughly 

 studied, it was discovered to be bacteriolytic, but still 

 failed to cause improvement in the treatment of the disease. 

 We know now the conditions of bacteriolysis, and that the 

 production of immunity in animals is accompanied by the 



'The Lancet," Sept. 6, 1902. 

 ' Brit. Med. Jour.," Oct. 10, 1903. 

 'Miinchener med. Wochenschrift," Sept. 27, 1898. 

 ' Med. moderne," March 25, 1899. 

 'Gaz. des Hopitaux," 1898, LXXI, p. 397. 



'Brit. Med. Jour.," 1897, I, 259. tflbid., April 17, 1897. 



'Brit. Med. Jour.," April 3, 1903. 

 33 



