28 ANAPHYLAXIS AND ANTI-ANAPHYLAXIS 



terms sensibiligen and sensibilisin, which merely 

 indicate the plain fact of sensitisation. 



In analysing these theories, Kolmer^ divides them 

 into two main groups — (i ) those based on the humoral 

 or chemical theory of anaphj'laxis, which assume that 

 antigen and antibody meet and interact in the blood- 

 stream; (2) those which assume that the antibody is 

 within the tissue cells and that the reaction takes 

 place in this position — the " cellular " theory. As 

 Besredka has already given a short abstract of these 

 theories in the previous chapter, it will not be neces- 

 sary to recapitulate them here. It will be noted that 

 almost all the earlier work on the subject was based 

 on the humoral or chemical theory. 



Recently, however, largely owing to the work of 

 the late R. Weil,^ a good deal of investigation has 

 been carried out on the cellular theory. 



Of the earlier humoral theories, probably that of 

 Friedberger on anaphylotoxins has received the most 

 attention. It has been extended from time to time 

 by Friedberger himself and by others in order to 

 explain the various steps of the reaction. Recently 

 Novy and Drekmif ^ have extended the researches on 

 anaphylotoxin still further. They believe that the 

 matrix of this poison is not located in the nitrogenous 

 constituents of the antigen, as Friedberger suggested, 

 but that it is always present in circulating plasma, 

 and can be changed by a catalyser into anaphylotoxin 

 itself by the action of an inert substance such as agar, 

 kaolin, etc. These authors suggest that the reaction 

 is analogous to the catalytic change of fibrinogen 

 into fibrin in coagulation. 



The part played by the body cells in the phenomena 

 of anaphylaxis has become more and more the subject 



^ Journal of Immunology, ii., pp. 429, 525, 1917. 



2 Ibid., in., p. i, 1918. 



3 Journalof American Medical Association, Ixviii., -p. 1525, 1917. 



