Mabch 15, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



423 



variability in the hemolytic effect of organ 

 extracts, which has been noted by previous 

 observers, is the varying admixture of blood. 

 Kidneys prepared bloodlessly, by perfusion 

 with salt solution, are hemolytic only in very 

 low dilution, and after a long latent interval. 

 Kidneys suffused with blood are, as a rule, very 

 much more active; occasionally less so. The 

 effects of blood have been analyzed by the 

 separate addition of serum, emulsions of white 

 cells (from artificial abscesses), and of red 

 cells after washing, to the bloodless kidney 

 extract. In each case it was found that 

 hemolysis was inhibited. The question, there- 

 fore, arises, why are kidneys that have been 

 suffused with blood as a rule more actively 

 hemolytic than the bloodless organs ? If their 

 extracts are centrifuged, and all the solid par- 

 ticles, including the red cells, removed, it is 

 found that the extracts are still deeply stained 

 by hemoglobin. This is due to the destruction 

 and solution of red cells, which is inseparable 

 from the process of preparing the extract. The 

 next step, therefore, was to determine the effect 

 of adding red cell constituents to the bloodless 

 organ extracts. This was prepared by adding 

 red cells to distilled water, and then bringing 

 the solution to the strength of normal salt solu- 

 tion. Such a solution adds very markedly to 

 the hemolytic power of the organ extract. Its 

 manner of action seems to resemble that of 

 complement, inasmuch as it is capable of 

 breaking up the red cells only after a prelim- 

 inary treatment with the organ extract. 



Tumors were investigated in the same man- 

 ner as the kidneys. It was found that the 

 non-neerotic tumors are somewhat more hem- 

 olytic than are the kidneys, owing possibly to 

 their blood content. They act, however, in 

 other ways precisely like the latter, their ac- 

 tion being diminished by the addition of serum 

 and of white cells, and being increased by the 

 red cell extract. 



Necrotic areas of tumors are extremely 

 hemolytic, even up to dilutions of two in four 

 hundred. This hemolytic activity is not af- 

 fected by the addition of the blood com- 

 ponents. 



The Enzymatic Properties of Diplococcvs 

 iniracellularis : Simon Flexnee. 



The brief vitality of many of the cultures 

 of Diplococcus intracellularis is a point of 

 differential importance. Many strains, grown 

 on a favorable medium, unless transplanted to 

 a fresh medium, do not survive beyond two or 

 three days. Cultures three days old show 

 marked degenerations and the latter increase 

 rapidly with age until, at the end of five or 

 six days, or even earlier, no normal cocci per- 

 sist. As degeneration progresses, loss of 

 staining power and disintegration ensue, until 

 finally, staining is lost and a formless detritus 

 remains. 



The changes in the diplococcus are asso- 

 ciated with the action of an enzyme which 

 brings about the disintegration. This enzyme 

 does not exhibit the usual properties of a pro- 

 teolytic ferment: it does not liquefy gelatin 

 or coagulated serum. The degree of rapidity 

 of its action varies with its concentration: at 

 least a heavy suspension of the cocci in salt 

 solution, kept at 3Y° C, undergoes dissolution 

 more rapidly and completely than a weaker 

 suspension. The vitality of the cultures is 

 associated with the degree of autolytic altera- 

 tions in the suspensions: cocci in the weak 

 suspensions survive longer than in the stronger 

 ones. At lower temperatures — 2° 0. — disin- 

 tegration of the cocci either does not take 

 place at all or progresses much more slowly. 

 Under the latter conditions more cocci survive 

 in the strong than in the weak concentrations, 

 although even here the vitality is a brief one. 



The enzyme of the diplococcus acts ener- 

 getically upon other bacteria, bringing about 

 their dissolution. It acts upon B. typhosus, 

 B. coli communis, B. pyocyaneus, B. anthra- 

 cis, M. catarrhalis, and to a less degree and 

 more slowly upon Staphylococcus aureus. 



On the Supposed Existence of Efferent Fibers 

 from, the Diabetic Center to the Liver; J. J. 

 E. MACLEOD and 0. E. Briggs. 

 The authors have found that no hypergly- 

 cemia is produced by stimulation of the 

 splanchnic nerves, or of the spinal cord below 

 the cervical region. In the cervical region, 

 on the other hand, stimulation produces hy- 

 perglycemia except when oxygen is very freely 

 delivered into the trachea. By such adminis- 



