BACTER1OLYSINS AND H&MOLYSINS 97 



autolytic substance. It is obvious that if there 

 were no such regulating facilities, the absorption of 

 large bloody effusions and hemorrhages might lead 

 to the formation by the organism of autolysins 

 against its own blood cells. Gengou, a pupil of 

 Metchnikoff, believes to have shown experimen- 

 tally that the destructive action of these auto- 

 lysins is hindered by the simultaneous production 

 of an auto-antiimmune body which immediately 

 inhibits their action. 



In order that isolysins may be formed, it seems 

 necessary to overwhelm the organism once or sev- 

 eral times with large amounts of cells or cell prod- 

 ucts of the same species ; to produce, as Ehrlich says, 

 an ictus immunisatorius. Wassermann tried, by 

 using various blood poisons, such as hasmolytic sera, 

 toluylenediamine, etc., for a continued length of 

 time, to cause the formation of these isolysins, but 

 without success, although in these experiments 

 each injection was followed by an appreciable 

 destruction of red cells and absorption of their 

 decomposition products. The gradual and even 

 repeated absorption of not too large quantities of 

 decomposed red cells does not therefore lead to the 

 formation of isolysins; but, as already said, a sudden 

 overwhelming of the organism by large amounts 

 of the cells or their products is necessary. 



Deflection of Complement. In the use of the 

 antitoxic sera, experience has shown that the em- 



