54 ANAPHYLAXIS AND ANTI-ANAPHYLAXIS 



consecutive injection of a really lethal dose of serum 

 made intracerebrally. 



This process of vaccination by heated serum has 

 been applied in practice. It has been utilised, 

 amongst others, by Stanculeanu and Nita^ in the 

 following manner: These authors, having instilled 

 horse serum into the conjunctivae of patients with eye 

 affections, had observed in certain individuals amongst 

 them symptoms of local anaphylaxis — redness of the 

 conjunctiva and of the eyelid, weeping of the eyes, 

 oedema of the bulbar conjunctiva and of the two 

 eyelids, conjunctival ecchymoses, oedema of the face 

 with enlargement of pre-auricular and submaxillary 

 glands. In two patients who presented particularly 

 serious symptoms, these authors had recourse to what 

 they called " the vaccine of Besredka," which is 

 nothing else than serum diluted with distilled water 

 (1:4) and heated to 83° C. The authors noted that 

 in the patients thus vaccinated the injection of 

 normal serum, made twenty-four hours afterwards, 

 set up no further symptoms. Again, nothing hap- 

 pened when, three hours later, they repeated the 

 injection of serum. They inferred from this that it 

 was possible to vaccinate the conjunctiva against 

 local serum anaphylaxis. 



In the course of these researches on vaccination 

 with sera rendered atoxic by heat, we arrived gradu- 

 ally at the conclusion that a vaccinating or anti- 

 phylactic effect could be obtained by the use of 

 doses of unheated serum, so weak that they could 

 be said to pass unnoticed by the animal vaccinated. 



We have observed, indeed, that the guinea-pig, in 

 the fully developed condition of anaphylaxis, tolerates 

 without the least discomfort a lethal dose of serum 

 given intracerebrally (0-125 c.c.) if it be first injected, 

 for example, with 0-02 c.c. or even coi c.c. of serum 

 1 Comptes rend. Soc. de Biol., Ixvi., p. 11 12, 1909- 



