TETANUS 



423 



broth becomes practically non-toxic, though it still retains 

 its power of immunising on inoculation and of combining 

 with antitoxin that is to say, bodies are formed analogous 

 to the toxoids of diphtheria toxin. 



Brieger, from impure cultures of the tetanus bacillus, 

 obtained two basic bodies which he termed " tetanine " 

 a,nd " tetano- toxin," the former producing tetanic symp- 



FIG. 48. Guinea-pig inoculated with a small dose of tetanus toxin, 

 showing paralytic condition of right hind leg due to spasm. 



toms in mice, and the latter tremor, paralysis, and finally 

 convulsions. Brieger also isolated tetanine from the 

 amputated limb of a tetanic patient. Brieger and Frankel 

 obtained a tox- albumin from bouillon cultures which 

 induced tetanus in guinea-pigs. Brieger and Cohn subse- 

 quently investigated the tetanus poison obtained by preci- 

 pitating veal-broth cultures with ammonium sulphate 

 added to saturation, and purifying by re- dissolving, preci- 

 pitating the protein with basic lead acetate, and removing 

 other soluble impurities by dialysis. The purified product 

 forms yellow flakes, soluble in water, but not giving the 



