RECENT WORK ON ANAPHYLAXIS 129 



-of investigation of late years. It is assumed that the 

 anaphylactic antibody is in some way closely con- 

 nected with the body cells, and that the interaction 

 with antigen takes place in this position — hence the 

 symptoms and signs of " shock," which is probably 

 a cellular phenomenon. In a series of papers extend- 

 ing over the last four or five years, Weil ^ has shewn 

 that — (i) antigen and antibody may coexist in the 

 blood and in the cells of the living animal, and that 

 even if in combination with antigen the antibody 

 may still be capable of reacting with fresh antigen; 

 {2) anaphylaxis consists simply in the cellular reaction 

 due to fixation of antigen by the cellular antibody; 

 (3) blood taken from dogs at the height of anaphy- 

 lactic shock fails to produce any effect when injected 

 into normal animals, whereas the liver of these dogs 

 is enormously congested, the parenchyma cells are 

 degenerated, the blood is incoagulable, and the 

 blood-pressure low. This author therefore finds no 

 direct evidence of anaphylotoxin in the circulating 

 blood, but rather evidence of a cellular reaction, 

 chiefly to be found, apparently, in the liver. Man- 

 waring and Crowe^ have also recently shewn by 

 means of perfusion experiments with the livers of 

 normal and of anaphylactic guinea-pigs that the 

 evidence points to the explosive formation or libera- 

 tion of vaso-dilator and broncho-dilator substances 

 by the sensitised liver cells. 



The relation of bacterial anaphylaxis to the cellular 

 theory is obviously of considerable importance. 

 Zinsser and Parker^ have studied the question by 

 means of Dale's anaphylactic guinea-pig uterus test. 

 They find that bacterial anaphylaxis is strictly 

 analogous to serum anaphylaxis. For the success 



1 Journal of American Medical Association , Ixviii., p. 1525, 1917. 



2 Journal of Immunology, ii., p. 517, 1917. 



3 Journal of Experimental Medicine, xxvi., p. 411, 1917. 



9 



