38 PROTEIN THERAPY 



with a sharp febrile rise. Eberstadt in treating erysipelas did not 

 observe any initial rise in temperature following the injection; a 

 lysis occurred in his four cases. 



The fact that colloidal metals are active catalytic agents has 

 led to the theory that in the organism they act therapeutically by 

 virtue of this property as inorganic ferments. Vergely in a recent 

 review calls attention to this effect in connection with the enormous 

 surface developed by colloidal preparations of this type. A liter 

 of a 0.5 per thousand solution of colloidal gold, for example, presents 

 a surface of 150,000 square centimeters, while the same weight of 

 gold in a compact form presents a surface of only 50 square milli- 

 meters. In therapeutics, they whip up the organism but if it is unable 

 to respond, they can do no good. If the patient is unable to produce 

 more leukocytes, there is no chance of success. In selecting the 

 colloid to use, he advises the metal that has been found most active 

 against the bacteria, etc., involved. He adds that injection of a col- 

 loid may favor the production of a fixation abscess when this is 

 attempted at the same time. There is a place for colloidal thera- 

 peutics, he concludes, besides vaccine therapy and serotherapy, but 

 its principal indication is in chronic disease or infection. 



While the reaction that follows the injection of colloidal metals 

 may be quite severe, relatively few untoward effects have so far been 

 reported in the medical press. Eyth and Moser have reported deaths; 

 Saito, Eberstadt, Kausch and Werler have reported severe shock re- 

 actions. Injections must be made very slowly; therapeutic results 

 can be expected only when the metals are given early in the dis- 

 ease process. 



A variety of colloidal metals have been prepared for therapeutic 

 use, some of which are on the market as commercial preparations. 

 The colloidal silver-albumen preparations have been used longest. 

 Arsenic, iodin, manganese-copper and platinum, zinc, manganese, 

 gold, iron, sulphur, mercury, tin oxid, etc., have been used with vary- 

 ing success. The dosage depends of course on the amount of metal 

 dispersed in the solution and on the degree of reaction produced, 

 both variable factors, that require a certain amount of trial for each 

 preparation. The treatise of Searle covers the field of recent English 

 work with colloidal metals. 



Of the silver preparation the dosage has varied in practice from 

 the minute doses given by Gellhaus, who used fractions of a cubic 

 centimeter, to those of Kausch, who commonly injected from 10 to 

 25 c.c. and even gave as much as 100 c.c. of a 2% solution intra- 

 venously. 



The colloidal metals are given not only intravenously and sub- 

 cutaneously, but have been used locally, given per os and even as 

 clysma. Alexander, for instance, gives first one injection intrave- 

 nously (10 c.c. of a 2% solution), then follows the next day with a 



