Apkil 14, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



539 



ushered in the antitoxic treatment of certain bac- 

 terial diseases and notably diphtheria and tetanus. 

 Since then, data have accumulated rapidly. No 

 difficulty is encountered in explaining antitoxic 

 immunity, so called, which is a process essentially 

 of neutralization — of a toxic body with the anti- 

 toxic antagonist. But no such simple explanation 

 suffices to account for the process through which 

 living bacteria and not their waste products alone 

 are destroyed. Several independent reactions are 

 distinguishable: the assembling (agglutination; 

 of the bacteria, their englobing by cells (phago- 

 cytosis), and their disintegration inside and out- 

 side of cells (bacteriolysis). The processes are 

 partly inherent in the animal host, partly subject 

 to augmentation. The experiments to be described 

 deal with the finer mechanism of the disposal of 

 bacteria through phagocytic activity and the ac- 

 tion upon the mechanism of antiseptic chemicals 

 which have been or conceivably may be recom- 

 mended for the treatment of the bacterial infec- 

 tions because of the possession of bactericidal 

 properties. 



The Distribution of the Chondnosomes to the Sper- 

 matozoa in Scorpions: Edmund B. Wilson. 

 The spermatozoon carries into the egg two kinds 

 of bodies that have been supposed to play a 

 definite part in heredity; these are the chromo- 

 somes and the chondriosomes, the former belong- 

 ing to the nucleus, the latter to the protoplasm or 

 cytoplasm. The chromosomes (with certain spe- 

 cific exceptions) undergo in general an accurately 

 equal distribution to the germ-cells; whether this 

 is also true of the chondriosomes is not certainly 

 known, though an approximately equal distribu- 

 tion undoubtedly occurs in some eases. In the 

 Arizona scorpion, alone among animals thus far 

 examined, an accurate quantitative distribution 

 of the chondriosome-material may be demonstrated 

 owing to the fact that prior to the spermatoeyte- 

 divisions all this material becomes concentrated in 

 a single, definite body in the form of a ring. 

 This body, a new type of chondriosome, divides 

 somewhat after the fashion of a heterotype chro- 

 mosome-ring, each spermatid receiving exactly 

 one fourth of its substance. In the California 

 scorpion the phenomena offer a remarkable con- 

 trast to this, agreeing in the main with the Euro- 

 pean form Euscorpius carpathieus as described by 

 Sokolow. The ring is here absent, its place being 

 taken by about 24 separate, hollow spheroidal 

 bodies that show no evidence of division at any 

 time and establish no definite relation to the 



spindle, but are passively segregated by the sper- 

 matocyte-divisions into four approximately equal 

 groups. Each spermatid thus receives as a rule 

 six, not uncommonly five, rarely seven of these 

 bodies, which give rise to the nebenkern like the 

 products of the ring in the Arizona form. In 

 both cases the chondriosome-material has the same 

 origin, seems to play the same part in the forma- 

 tion of the spermatozoon (nebenkern, envelope of 

 the flagellum) and shows the same staining reac- 

 tions (Benda method). Interesting questions arc 

 thus raised concerning the principle of genetic 

 continuity as applied to the chondriosomes or to 

 other specific cell-components. 



Further Studies of the Protein Poison: Victor C. 



Vaitghan. 



In 1903 Wlieeler and I discovered a poisonous 

 group in the protein molecule. This work has 

 been extended by my students and myself and 

 confirmed by others. Since my latest publication 

 on this subject, the following new facts have been 

 discovered in my laboratory: (1) SJcin Reaction. — 

 When a drop of an aqueous solution of the poison 

 is placed on the normal skin and the epidermis 

 covered by the drop abraded, there results a local 

 inflammatory process. Within a few minutes the 

 skin about the point becomes edematous, resem- 

 bling a hive, and later develops a redness which 

 gradually fades. This reaction is similar to the 

 specific reactions which may be developed in cer- 

 tain diseases and develops in the skin of normal 

 individuals because the poison has already been 

 set free in vitro. (2) Absorption from the Ali- 

 mentary Canal. — I have stated that the protein 

 poison is harmless when taken by the mouth for 

 two reasons: (1) it is broken into harmless groups 

 by the digestive ferments and (2) it diffuses 

 through the intestinal walls too slowly to have any 

 deleterious effect. We have found that when 

 given in relatively large amounts, especially on 

 an empty stomach, the protein poison may be ab- 

 sorbed in sufficient quantity to cause death from 

 either acute or chronic intoxication. In the latter, 

 a typical and marked fatty degeneration of the 

 liver and kidneys results. Moreover, we have 

 demonstrated that in both acute and chronic in- 

 toxication the poison may be detected in the liver, 

 kidneys, lungs, brain and other tissues. It can 

 be extracted and its action demonstrated by intra- 

 venous injection in guinea-pigs. (3) Combination 

 with Proteins. — The protein poison combines with 

 certain proteins and in these combinations the 

 acidity of the poison and its toxicity are modified. 



