THEORIES OF MECHANISM OF REACTION 91 



and considered the use of antipyretic substances as illogical, apart from 

 the direct toxicity that they might possess. 



Uddgren, as a result of extensive study with milk injections, has come 

 to the conclusion that the hyperthermia is not responsible for the clinical 

 improvement. Working with eye diseases she found that with "sterile" 

 milk the reaction of the patient was very mild but the clinical results 

 were just as good if not better than when market milk was used which 

 gave a severe reaction. 



Weiss has applied this theory in the treatment of gonorrheal infections 

 with very hot baths. The gonococcus is very susceptible to heat so that 

 it offers a suitable field for trial. He has used baths heated to 42 C. In 

 some instances favorable results have been reported ; most patients are not 

 able, however, to stand the treatment (Scholz). (Kapperer.) 



Nolf 's Theory. Nolf assumes that the mode of action is the fol-' 

 lowing: "Peptone is an easily assimilable antigen. The pathogenic 

 microbes, on the other hand, antigens, are difficult of assimilation. A 

 single mechanism brings about the assimilation of both when they 

 are given by a parenteral route. It is probable that the administra- 

 tion of peptone has the power of stimulating this mechanism and 

 of thus augmenting the destruction of the microbes. As the pro- 

 teosotherapy is essentially a nonspecific method, it can with advan- 

 tage be given in association with more or less specific chemical sub- 

 stances when the latter alone are insufficient for bringing about the 

 cure. For this reason I have used proteosotherapy in conjunction 

 with hexamethylenamin in the treatment of typhoid fever, and with 

 sodium salicylate in daily doses of 6 gm. in the treatment of septi- 

 cemia caused by streptococci and staphylococci and in acute arthritis." 



v. Groer believes that we are dealing with an alteration of the 

 entire organism "eine Umstimmung" or a desensitization, largely due 

 to the loss of the cell receptors, whereby the cell becomes less liable 

 to intoxication. This view will be discussed more fully in the follow- 

 ing chapter. 



Enzymes. Holler, Lindig, Friedlander, von den Velden as well 

 as Jobling and Petersen have emphasized the importance of the proteo- 

 lytic enzymes mobilized after the injections. Lindig introduced casein 

 injections on this basis and Jobling and Petersen used proteoses 

 with the same purpose in mind. Lindig's hypothesis has been as 

 follows: The serum of the pregnant woman and the new-born child 

 contains proteolytic enzymes which digest casein; these enzymes are 

 of importance in preventing infection. Other agents may stimulate 

 enzyme action, such as colloidal metals, salt solution, etc., and they 

 have been successfully used in therapy. Lindig considers that the 

 enzymes are heterolytic and that they may be derived either from 

 the leukocytes or from glands. If too large doses of proteins are 

 injected an excess of enzymes floods the serum, tissue-lysis occurs and 



