82 TOXINS AND ANTITOXINS. 



A dose of the filtered culture, which is fatal to 

 a guinea-pig, becomes innocuous when mixed with 

 0.5 Cc. of the serum of a vaccinated guinea-pig; 

 6 Cc. of the serum injected six hours after an 

 injection of the virulent culture, hence when this 

 is in full action, suffice to save the animal.* So 

 far as the human being is concerned, the results 

 obtained have not been sufficiently satisfactory. 



The culture bouillon of the Bacillus coli com- 

 munis, which is closely allied to Eberth's bacillus, 

 also contains soluble toxic substances which have 

 been named coli-bacillus toxin. This substance, 

 which is produced only in small quantity by the 

 microbe, is fatal only in very large doses. 



Cholera Toxin. Very little is known regarding 

 the toxic products of the spirillium cholerse; 

 nevertheless, the fact that typical cholera exhibits 

 every symptom of the action of a toxic agent 

 demonstrates quite clearly the elaboration of some 

 toxic substance within the cultures of this microbe. 



Villiers f found in it a liquid ptomaine ; Klebs J 

 found another and crystallizable ptomaine; while 

 Pitai discovered in it a toxin unalterable by heat, 

 and which he considered as a toxopeptone. Accord- 

 ing to Gamaleia there is present a true toxin, 



* FUNCK: La Serotherapie de la Fievre Typhoide, i, Brussels, 

 1896. 



f Compt. rend, de I'Acad. des Sciences, Jan. 12, 1885. 

 J KLEBS: Allgem. Wien. Med. Zeit., 1887. 

 Arch, fa Med, Experim., iv, p. 173. 



