24 PROTEIN THERAPY 



that is responsible for the reaction that follows milk injections, 

 Muller is of the opinion that the casein, just as the milk itself, rep- 

 resents merely a foreign body and that the other constituents of the 

 milk will also give a similar reaction. 



A similar preparation Caseosan has also been recently placed on 

 the market. Both are merely solutions of casein in sterile containers. 



Casein occupies a rather unusual position among the native pro- 

 teins because of the rapidity with which it is split and particularly 

 because it is hydrolyzed .by erepsin ; the latter fact would make the 

 splitting of the injected casein probable in almost any of the tissue 

 fluids. Riedel calls attention to the fact that the mono- and diamins 

 derived from the casein would act as powerful activators for tissue 

 activity and, as a result, for enzyme activity. 



Gelatin. The use of gelatin for intravenous injections was recom- 

 mended a number of years ago because it was assumed that the 

 gelatin would be much more efficacious in retaining water in the 

 vascular bed in cases of shock and after severe hemorrhage, as 

 the gelatin forms a hydrosol. The injections were at times followed 

 by evidences of a nonspecific reaction of mild degree chill, sweating, 

 and febrile rise. Clark has recently studied the reaction of rabbits to 

 such injection. The possibility that tetanus may follow injections 

 of gelatin, especially when given subcutaneously, must be kept in 

 mind. (Weber.) 



Plant Proteins. Munch has reported on the use of plant "press- 

 saft" for parenteral injections. In this country a number of such 

 agents, of unknown origin or composition, supposedly derived from 

 plants, are on the market and are exploited under proprietary names. 

 A rather amusing inconsistency is to be noted in that these non- 

 specific proprietary agents are prepared for specific purposes, that 

 is for each disease there is recommended a specific "nonspecific" 

 agent. 



Nucleic Acid and the Nucleins. Nucleic acid was first brought 

 to the attention of the scientific world at a meeting of the Basel 

 Natiirforscher Gesellschaft in 1874 when Miescher discussed its chem- 

 istry. It was not, however, until almost twenty years later that Hor- 

 baczewski introduced it into medical practice and observed its leuko- 

 cytic stimulative properties. Maurek shortly after reported on the 

 effect of subcutaneous injections on the leukocytic picture and on 

 the temperature curve, and Netter introduced it in France. It was 

 soon extensively used in a number of infectious diseases and in a 

 variety of degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, such 

 as general paralysis, tabes, etc. Chantemesse and Parlavecchio both 

 studied the effect of nuclein injections on antibody formation, finding 

 that both alexins and agglutinins were increased, while Fox and Lynch 

 have in very recent years studied the effect of nuclein injections on 

 the leukocytosis of dogs. Brown and Ross have studied the leukocytic 



