ANAPHYLAXIS 405 



by nitrogen output, the cleavage of foreign protein injected into 

 specifically sensitized or immunized dogs occurred with much greater 

 energy and speed than occurred in normal animals after first in- 

 jection. 



Attempts to obtain the poison by non-specific methods that is, 

 by purely chemical processes without the agencies of alexin and sen- 

 sitizer or antibody, have been made with apparent success by 

 Vaughan and Wheeler, 62 whose toxic, alcoholic-soluble fraction (ob- 

 tained by boiling egg white in absolute alcohol containing 2 per cent. 

 NaOH), seems to produce typical anaphylaxis in guinea pigs. This 

 substance Vaughan and Wheeler regard as a protein, whereas Wells 63 

 states that it may be this, or a "soluble peptone or polypeptid, con- 

 taining enough of the different aminoacids to give all the usual reac- 

 tions." Weichhardt, 64 too, has obtained similar poisons by a method 

 similar in principle to that of Vaughan and Wheeler. 



This substance is, according to him, pharmacologically identical 

 with his "keno toxin/' or fatigue toxin, obtained in the washings 

 from the muscles of excessively fatigued animals. 



Accurate chemical definition of the anaphylactic poison has not 

 so far been accomplished, and it is obvious that the problem is an 

 extremely difficult one. Biedl and Kraus, 65 ' 66 however, have drawn 

 a very close parallelism between anaphylactic intoxication and pep- 

 tone poisoning in dogs. They have shown that peptone (0.3 gr. to the 

 kilo.) injected into these animals gives rise to the same clinical 

 symptoms that characterize anaphylaxis. It is accompanied also by 

 typical fall of blood pressure, delayed coagulability of the blood, and 

 leukopenia. Furthermore, they claim that the injection of sublethal 

 doses of Witte peptone into serum-sensitized dogs leads to a non- 

 specific anti-anaphylaxis. They claim a physiological identity of the 

 Witte peptone with the anaphylactic poison. 



This last observation could not be confirmed by Manwaring, 67 

 who found that dogs that had been rendered anti-anaphylactic to- 

 horse serum still reacted strongly to peptone an observation which 

 does not indeed weaken the contention of Biedl and Kraus as to the 

 similarity of peptone shock to anaphylaxis, but has significance in 

 contradicting the doubts their experiments have thrown on the 

 specificity of antianaphylaxis. 



Observations similar to those of Biedl and Kraus on the toxic 

 action of peptone have been made by Arthus. 68 



62 Vaughan and Wheeler. Loc. cit. 



63 Wells. Jour. Inf. Dis., Vol. 5, 1908. 



64 Weichhardt. Zentralbl. /. die ges. Pliys. u. Path, des Staff wechsels, 

 No. 15, 1909. Ref. "Weichhardt's Jahresbericht," 1910, p. 554. 



65 Biedl and Kraus. Wien. klin. Woch., No. 11, 1909. 



66 Also "Kraus n. Levaditi Handhuch, etc.," Erg-anzung-sband 1, p. 26 l . 



67 Manwaring. Zeitschr. f. Imrmtnitntsforschung, Vol. 8, p. 589, 1911. 



68 Arthus. C. E. tie I'Acad. des Scienc., Vol. 148. 



