Toxic Products 457 



Fermi and Pernossi * found most toxin produced in agar- 

 agar cultures, less in gelatin cultures, and least in bouillon 

 cultures. 



Ehrlich f found two poisons in the tetanus toxin, one of 

 which was convulsive and was in consequence called tetano- 

 spasmin, the other hemolytic and called tetanolysin. When 

 tetanus toxin is added to defibrinated blood, the tetano- 

 lysin is absorbed by the corpuscles, many of which are 

 dissolved, while the tetanospasmin remains unchanged. 



Donitz t and Wassermann and Takaki have found that 

 the tetanus toxin has a specific affinity for the central 

 nervous system, .with whose cells it combines in vitro and 

 becomes inert. 



Roux and Borrel|| have also found that when tetanus 

 toxin is injected into the brain substance a very much 

 smaller dose will cause death than is necessary when the 

 poison is absorbed from the subcutaneous tissues. 



Like most of the bacterial toxins, the tetanus poison is 

 only effective when produced in or injected into the tissues 

 and absorbed into the circulation. It is harmless when 

 given by the digestive tract, Ramon** having adminis- 

 tered by the mouth 300,000 times the fatal hypodermic 

 dose without producing any symptoms. The toxin seemed 

 to pass out with the feces. 



One of the most interesting peculiarities about the toxin 

 is the comparative uniformity of the period intervening 

 between its administration and the appearance of the 

 symptoms erroneously called the incubation period. This 

 varies within a narrow margin, inversely, with the size of 

 the dose. Thus, according to Behring, the effect of varying 

 doses of the toxin upon mice becomes evident according 

 to the size of the dose in from twelve to thirty-six hours, 

 thus: 



13 lethal doses symptoms in 36 hours 



1 10 lethal doses symptoms in 24 hours 



333 lethal doses symptoms in 20 hours 



1300 lethal doses symptoms in 14 hours 



3600 lethal doses symptoms in 1 2 hours 



* "Centralbl. f. Bakt.," etc., xv, p. 303. 

 f "Berliner klin. Wochenschrift," 1898, No. 12, p. 273. 

 t "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1897, p. 428. 

 "Berliner klin. Wochenschrift," 1898, 35. 

 || "Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur," t. xn, 1898. 

 ** "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," Feb. 24, 1898. 



