HEMOLTSIS BY BACTERIA 195 



especially in those diseases accompanied by septicemia. After 

 death the hemoglobin of the blood goes into solution, and the 

 resulting staining of the walls of the blood-vessels, and later of 

 the tissues everywhere, is generally familiar. In the post- 

 mortem hemolysis probably the putrefactive organisms are chiefly 

 concerned, although it is marked a very short time after death 

 in many cases of septicemia, particularly when the infecting 

 organism is the streptococcus, and here probably the pathogenic 

 organism is the chief cause of the hemolysis. The hemolytic 

 action of bacteria can be studied both in vitro and in vivo. 

 Among the best known are tetanolysin, pyocyanolysin, typholy- 

 sin, staphylolysin, and streptocolysin, as they have been termed. 

 Of these, the case of pyocyanolysin is questionable, because it 

 has been described as resisting heat above the boiling-point, and 

 Jordan l seems to have proved that the hemolysis is ascribable 

 to the alkalinity that this organism produces in culture-media. 

 Other bacterial hemolysins are, however, destroyed by heat at 

 70 C. for two hours ; but they are altogether different from 

 ordinary cellular hemolysins. G. Ruediger 2 shows the follow- 

 ing differences between strep tocoly sin and the hemolysins of 

 serum; streptocolysin is not destroyed at 65 C. for one-half 

 hour, and therefore is different from complement. When de- 

 stroyed by heating to a higher point, it cannot be reactivated by 

 the addition of complement, thus differing from intermediary 

 body. It is also different from intermediary body in that it 

 does not combine with corpuscles at C. ; on the other hand, 

 it does combine at 6 C., but does not exert any hemolytic 

 effect until the mixture is raised to a higher temperature. This 

 last observation indicates that the streptocolysin is similar in 

 nature to the toxins, namely, a toxophore group and a hapto- 

 phore group. In other words, streptocolysin is simply a toxin 

 for red cells, and unites directly to the cell receptors without 

 the intervention of any intermediary body. As a similar struc- 

 ture has been shown for staphylolysin and tetanolysin, it is 

 probable that the bacterial hemolysins are all merely toxins with 

 a particular affinity for red cells. 3 



Secondary anemia occurring in the infectious diseases is 



1 Jour. Medical Research, 1903 (10), 31. 



2 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1903 (41), 962. 



3 Abbott and Gildersleeve [Jour. Med. Research, 1903 (10), 42) consider 

 that the hemolysis observed with some bacterial cultures is simply proteolysis 

 by the contained enzymes. 



According to v. Eisler, (Wien. klin. Woch., 1906 (19), No. 23) normal 

 horse serum contains two substances antagonizing tetanolysin and staphylolysin. 

 One is cholesterin, the other is precipitated out with the serum globulin and 

 is destroyed by peptic digestion. 



