130 ANAPHYLAXIS AND ANTI-ANAPHYLAXIS 



of the experiment it appears to be necessary that 

 solution or extraction of the bacteria should first 

 take place. The antigen produced from these dis- 

 integrated bacteria reacts with antibody, which 

 remains an integral part of the cell protoplasm, and 

 the authors consider that the entire process takes 

 place within the body cell. 



The study of anaphylaxis has become more and 

 more extensive since Richet's original observations 

 on Actiniae. The difficulties surrounding the question 

 are great. A few have been overcome, but a large 

 number still remain. No theor}'- of anaphylaxis will 

 explain all the facts, any more than any theory will 

 entirely explain immunity in general. Indeed, ana- 

 phylaxis is so intimately connected with the general 

 problem of immunity that a solution of the former 

 would probably go far towards explaining the latter. 

 The general trend of immunological re^search at the 

 present day appears to be along the lines of physical 

 chemistry, more especially as it relates to the 

 chemistry of the colloids. Hitherto this has been 

 the " No Man's Land " between the physicist and 

 the biochemist on the one hand and the bacterio- 

 logist on the other, and it may be that further 

 exploration of this little-known territory will add 

 greatly to our knowledge of those problems which 

 are so intimately connected with immunity and 

 infective disease. 



