334 THE TUBERCLE BACILLUS 



The method is available for the immunization of bovine animals against 

 tubercle bacilli of the bovine type. Intra-venous inoculation of calves with 

 a bacillus of chelonian origin [is said to ] produce a lasting immunity against 

 bacilli of the bovine type. The method might also be applicable to the treat- 

 ment of animals suffering from tuberculosis. Libbertz and Ruppel have 

 not been able to confirm these results. 



Conversely, Friedmann succeeded in vaccinating tortoises against bacilli 

 of chelonian origin by inoculating them with a virus of the human type. 



Moeller, carrying out similar researches, succeeded in infecting blind-worms 

 with human tubercle bacilli and for the purpose used as a vaccine a bacillus 

 of the human type which had been passed through a series of blind-w T orms. 

 Moeller did not hesitate to practise his method of vaccination on himself. 

 On three separate occasions he inoculated himself intra-venously with a 

 culture of the bacillus from the lesions in the blind-worm and a month after 

 his last vaccination he was inoculated intra-venously with an emulsion of 

 virulent bacilli of the human type which was rapidly fatal to guinea-pigs. 

 This inoculation produced merely a transitory loss of weight without any 

 disturbance of health a year afterwards. 



4. Serum therapy. 



Attempts at serum therapy in tuberculosis have up till the present given 

 no conclusive results. 



(i) Bichet and Hericourt by inoculating rabbits with dog-serum before 

 infecting them with tubercle bacilli have been able to delay the course of 

 infection in some of the inoculated animals. Unfortunately, the success of 

 the experiments was very relative and inconstant. Bertin and Picq, experi- 

 menting with inoculations of goat serum, obtained similar results. 



(ii) Von Behring and Niemann also failed with the serum of animals treated 

 with tuberculin. 



(iii) Bernheim tried the blood of animals inoculated with filtered but 

 unheated cultures of tubercle bacilli. His experiments were unsuccessful. 

 The results obtained by Babes and Broca were no more encouraging. 



(iv) Maragliano obtained a serum of obvious antitoxic properties. He 

 injected animals with increasing doses of a mixture of three parts of ordinary 

 tuberculin and one part of an extract of porcelain-filtered unheated cultures 

 (p. 329). The treatment was continued for 6 months and when 3 weeks had 

 elapsed since the last inoculation the animals were bled. In vitro., the serum 

 destroyed the toxic properties of tuberculin and protected guinea-pigs against 

 this poison : 1 c.c. of the serum protected a healthy guinea-pig against a 

 fatal dose of tuberculin : 2-4 c.c. rendered a tuberculous guinea-pig capable 

 of standing without harm a dose of tuberculin which in the ordinary way 

 would have killed it in a few hours. Experiments to determine whether 

 the serum protected healthy animals against infection with the tubercle 

 bacillus were not conclusive. 



(v) Marmorek for the treatment of tuberculosis suggests the use of a 

 serum obtained by inoculating horses with a special toxin (a filtered culture 

 of bacilli grown on a leucotoxic calf serum containing glycerin-liver-broth). 



(vi) Lannelongue, and Achard and Gaillard found that the serum of asses 

 possessed therapeutic properties after the animals had been treated by 

 inoculation with a toxin extracted from the bacilli by heating in water at 

 120 C., precipitating with acetic acid and redissolving the precipitate in 

 sodium carbonate. 



(vii) Baumgarten and Hegler after vaccinating a bovine animal with 

 bacilli of the human type were able to inoculate bacilli of the bovine type 



