APPENDIX D 



OTHER REACTIONS 



The Conglutination Reaction 



IN 1906 Bordet and Gay described the presence 

 in bovine serum of a substance having the property 

 of producing a characteristic clumping of red blood- 

 cells and of accelerating their lysis provided the 

 cells had first been treated with both sensitizer 

 (amboceptor) and alexin (complement) ; its action 

 was possible under no other circumstances. Subse- 

 quently it was shown that the same phenomenon 

 could be produced with bacteria treated with a 

 specific sensitizer and alexin. This substance is 

 spoken of as "conglutinin." From the work of 

 Bordet, Streng, Gay, and others it would appear 

 that the conglutination reaction can be employed 

 to discover the presence of specific sensitizers 

 (amboceptors) , and thus be applied to the diagnosis 

 of bacterial infections. The experimental work 

 thus far done on the subject is still too meagre to 

 warrant any definite statements as to the diag- 

 nostic value of the reaction. In some infections 

 studied by Gay the conglutination reaction appeared 



earlier than the agglutination reaction. 



207 



