THE VITAL PHENOMENA OF BACTERIA. 123 



so, perhaps only secondarily, and other bodies, 

 the poisonous proteids, may be the real cause. 

 Such poisonous proteid bodies are always 

 formed in the beginning of decomposition pro- 

 cesses. They are to be considered as " active " 

 proteid bodies, having in part an enzymotic 

 action, and their activity is destroyed by high 

 temperatures. 



Christmas * and Hankin 2 were the first to 

 discover that pathogenic bacteria also form 

 such primary proteid-like poisons, or, to ex- 

 press it more accurately, form poisons which 

 till now we have not been able to separate from 

 proteid bodies. These bodies likewise are to 

 be considered as active proteids. Here belong 

 the poisons of diphtheria, tetanus and cholera. 

 The activity of these poisons, too, is destroyed 

 by heating ; and the active proteid changed 

 to the passive form. 



The emphasis is to be laid upon " active " 

 proteid in contradistinction to u passive " pro- 

 teid. The classification of the proteid bodies, 

 worked out by Hoppe-Seyler and W. Kiihne, 

 has hitherto taken into consideration only the 

 passive proteid bodies. This scheme does not 

 include the " active " proteids which we know 

 as poisons, and under such a classification cer- 



1 Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur, 1891, p. 487. 



2 Brit. Med. Jour., 1889, p. 810. 



