804 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1013 



short time, thej could he reactivated. Whether 

 the reaction is due to the liberation of an anaphi- 

 latoxin from the mixture of the serum containing 

 the tosogenin and complement with the antigen of 

 the tuberculin, is a question to be decided in the 

 experiments which are to follow. At present I 

 wish to call attention to this phenomenon as a pos- 

 sible method for the diagnosis of tuberculosis at 

 least in eases where the condition is not too far 

 advanced and where there is some of the free anti- 

 body in the circulating blood. 



Subcutaneous injection 0.55 c.c. of a mixture of 

 fresh blood of patients suffering from tuberculosis 

 (1 c.c.) with tuberculin (crude diluted 1 to 10 0.1 

 c.c.) into a normal guinea-pig causes a local reac- 

 tion similar in its aspect to a tuberculin reaction 

 which is of good prognostic value in diagnosis of 

 tuberculosis. 



The Belationship of Anaphylaxis to Immunity: 



Fkaser B. Gded. 



The experiments reported in this paper were 

 undertaken in the hope of procuring data which 

 might throw light upon the fact, now well estab- 

 lished, that in order that an animal may become 

 ' ' immune " to a complex proteid, such as serum 

 albumin, it is necessary that the animal first be- 

 come, potentially art; least, anaphylactic. 



The author believes that there is not sufficient 

 evidence upon which to 'base the theory of sessile 

 and free receptors, as suggested by Friedberger 

 and recently actively championed by Weil. That 

 the reaction of the body to the parenteral intro- 

 duction of foreign proteins is an exhibition of 

 the property of parenteral digestion, is well estab- 

 lished, as indicated by the work of Alberhalden, 

 Zunz, Friedberger and others. That at one stage 

 in the process of protein cleavage a highly poison- 

 ous split product is produced, is also proven, and 

 that it is on account of the elaboration of ferments 

 or lysins, capable of producing cleavage of the 

 injected protein with the liberation of this toxic 

 product, thart: the anaphylactic state is developed, 

 appears sufficiently well supported by numerous 

 experiments. The author desires to suggest that 

 the immunity to or tolerance of heterologous pro- 

 tein introduction is due to the tissues of the re- 

 peatedly injected animal acquiring the property 

 of elaborating a second order of lysins which are 

 potent to produce more complete cleavage of the 

 toxic split -protein products. Thus it is due to the 

 presence in the body fluids and tissues of two 

 orders of lysins, that the "immune" animal is 

 itself protected against the harmful effects of pro- 



tein injection, even though its serum is potent to 

 passively sensitize normal animals. 



The author's experiments prove that it is pos- 

 sible, by varying the quantity of transferred 

 serum injected, to render normal animals either 

 highly sensitive or ' ' immune. ' ' Thus, two guinea- 

 pigs which received (intravenously) .6 c.c. of 

 serum from an immune rabbit were found to be 

 sensitive (at the end of 24 hours), to 5 and 6 

 minims of sheep's serum, the latter with a fatal 

 termination; whereas a rabbit which received 4.0 

 and 4.5 c.c. of the same rabbit serum on two suc- 

 cessive days, and 24 hours later was injected with 

 7 minims of sheep's serum, was found to be im- 

 mune. 



In another series of experiments the toxic injec- 

 tions were carried out immediately following the 

 injection (intravenous) of the transferred serum. 

 In these experiments it was found that whereas 

 0.5 c.c. of rabbit's serum rendered a normal pig 

 highly anaphylactic (dyspnea and convulsions), the 

 injection of 2.75 c.c. was sufficient to induce a 

 complete tolerance to the toxic injection of the 

 protein. 



Study of the Bacteriology of the Posterior Naso- 

 pharynx in Scarlatina: N. S. Feeet, M.D. 

 The study of the bacteriology of the posterior 

 nasopharynx in scarlatina was undertaken by the 

 writer to isolate, if possible and determine the role 

 of a certain micrococcus found in this region and 

 briefly described by Dr. Schultze in a preliminary 

 report in the Medical Becord, New York, December 

 10, 1910. This organism was seen by Dr. Schultze 

 in smears from 459 out of 555 cultures taken from 

 the throats of patients suffering with typical symp- 

 toms of the disease. The greatest number of posi- 

 tive findings have been obtained by swabbing the 

 posterior pharyngeal wall and allowing the swab 

 to stand in a test tube of bouillon a few hours. 

 The entire amount of bouillon is then plated in the 

 usual manner. The organism was not isolated in 

 the later stages of the disease and was not found 

 in any of the purulent discharges nor the blood, 

 which seems very significant considering the fact 

 that it appears to coincide with the contention of 

 the majority of observers that the disease is con- 

 tagious only in its early stages. For convenience 

 in nomenclature this organism was called by the 

 writer Micrococcus " S " and, for the present, it 

 will continue to be designated by that term. 



The Mic. " S " is a large coccus usually found in 

 pairs and often tetrads which grows luxuriantly 

 on all culture media after the first few generations. 

 Whether the Mic. "S" has or has not any spe- 



