THEORIES RELATING TO ANAPHYLAXIS 115 



same reason the intraperitoneal method is much less 

 severe; while the subcutaneous route, which permits 

 an extremely slow absorption of antigen, is the least 

 effective for the production of anaphylactic shock- 



These differences of toxicity have struck us par- 

 ticularly in our study of egg-albumen. Whilst the ^ 

 injection of 0-0025 c.c. of egg-albumen subcutaneously , 

 is enough to overwhelm the sensitised guinea-pig in 

 a few minutes, the dose of 5 c.c. of egg-albumen — • 

 that is to say, 2,000 times as strong — does no harm 

 when injected intraperitoneally. 



What becomes, then, of the so-called anaphylactic 

 poison in the last case ? Where does it go ? 



It can be admitted, certainly, that the poison is 

 destroyed as soon as it is formed ; but if it is destroyed 

 before exercising its toxic power, is it not useless to 

 take into account this phantom poison ? 



It should be noted that the various poisons men- 

 tioned by Friedberger, Kraus and Biedl, and Doerr, 

 are not at all weak and likely to disappear instan- 

 taneously without the animal reacting to them. 



It is no more necessary to admit the existence of 

 a toxin for the explanation of anti-anaphylaxis than 

 for anaphylaxis. 



In the case of anti-anaphylaxis also, it is the 

 rapidity of the reaction which explains everything. 

 When, to obtain anti-anaphylactic immunity, we 

 employ the method of repeated small doses, we 

 are only provoking a series of slight, successive 

 anaphylactic shocks; the great shock is thus broken 

 by the reaction being made slower and being divided 

 into small doses. 



Whether it is a question of the anaphylactic shock 

 which kills in a few minutes, or of anti-anaphylactic 

 vaccination which produces no apparent disturbance, 

 the mechanism is always the same. 



As we have previously seen (Chapter V.), the anti- 



