October 24, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



665 



is capable of neutralizing the particular toxin 

 to which it owes its origin, if this is subse- 

 quently introduced into the blood. In this 

 theory a specific combining relation is 

 assumed to exist between various toxic sub- 

 stances and the secondary atom-groups of 

 certain cellular elements of the body. The 

 atom-groups which, in accordance with this 

 theory, combine with the toxin of any par- 

 ticular disease germ, Ehrlich calls the ' toxi- 

 phoric side chain.'* 



The fact that the toxin produced by the 

 tetanus bacillus has an elective affinity for the 

 cells of the nervous tissues seems to be well 

 established. The wonderful toxic potency of 

 this toxin is shown by the researches of 

 Kitasato and by those of Brieger and Cohn 

 (1893). According to the last-named authors 

 the chemical reactions of the purified toxin 

 show that it is not a true albuminous body. 

 When injected beneath the skin of a mouse 

 weighing fifteen grams, in the dose of 

 0.00000005 gram, it caused its death, and 

 one-fifth of this amount gave rise to tetanic 

 symptoms. The lethal dose for a man weigh- 

 ing seventy kilograms is estimated by 

 Brieger and Cohn to be 0.00023 gram 

 (0.23 milligram). Comparing this with the 

 most deadly vegetable allsaloids known, it is 

 nearly six hundred times as potent as atropin 

 and one hundred and fifty times as potent as 

 strychnin. Ehrlich's explanation of the 

 origin of antitoxins is opposed by Buchner 

 and others. According to Buchner the anti- 

 toxins are to be regarded not as reactive pro- 

 ducts developed in the body of the immune 

 animal, but as modified, changed and ' ent- 

 giftete ' products of the specific bacterial cells. 

 He insists that they do not neutralize toxins 

 by direct contact, but only through the 

 medium of the living organism. 



On the other hand, Ehrlich insists that the 

 antitoxin neutralizes the toxin directly, in a 

 chemical way, and that such neutralization 

 occurs when they are mixed in a test-tube, 

 even more effectually than when they are 

 injected separately into the body of a suscep- 



* Quoted from the writer's 'Text-book of Bac- 

 teriologj',' second edition, 1891. 



tible animal. The experimental evidence 

 appears to me to be in favor of Ehrlich's view, 

 but neither time nor space will permit me to 

 present this evidence or to review the experi- 

 mental data upon which Ehrlich bases his 

 side-chain theory. The reader is referred to 

 Professor Aschoff's work for a full discussion 

 of the subject. Certainly Ehrlich's views are 

 entitled to great consideration, but it is evi- 

 dent that his theory, however plausible it may 

 appear, especially to chemists, is far from 

 being established upon a reliable experi- 

 mental basis. For us, the numerous facts 

 which have been brought to light by his 

 painstaking researches have a far greater 

 scientific value than his ' Seitenkettentheorie.' 

 Geo. M. Sternberg. 



DISGV88I0N AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 SOME MATTERS OF FACT OVERLOOKED BY PRO- 

 FESSOR WILSON. 



Professor Wilson seems to think that the 

 general scientific public is in danger of getting 

 ' a wrong impression ' of the situation at 

 Wood's Holl from my article in Science of 

 October 3; and in order to prevent this he 

 offers some criticisms and insinuations which, 

 I think, may produce a worse impression than 

 the one he desires to correct. Let me say, 

 therefore, to begin with, that our different 

 standpoints and opinions have been, and will 

 doubtless continue to be held on perfectly 

 friendly terms. 



Professor Wilson has favored merging the 

 laboratory in the Carnegie Institution, and he 

 has insisted very strongly that the independ- 

 ence of the laboratory would not be thereby 

 endangered in any essential respect. This view 

 was naturally seductive, for what friend of 

 the laboratory would not welcome a permanent 

 support which could be had without the sacri- 

 fice of a single principle or condition of vital 

 importance? The financial difficulties under 

 which we have so long labored predisposed all 

 to accept relief and forget the risk. The assur- 

 ance that there was no real risk from the one 

 who had carried on most of the negotiations for 

 our side, and the conditions proposed by the 

 Carnegie committee all tended to allay doubt. 

 Our organization was to remain essentially as 



