10 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 444. 



here is at all tenable, and it woi^ld seem to 

 offer at least a rational explanation of the 

 facts observed, we must admit the possi- 

 bility, under pathological conditions, of the 

 establishment of a vicious circle leading to 

 progressive degeneration of organs, which 

 could come into play only by the temporary 

 suspension of 'horror autotoxicus. ' 



But I must turn from such baneful and, 

 at present, perhaps, unprofitable specula- 

 tions. The whole subject to which they 

 refer represents a field of future explora- 

 tion. That it is a territory not without 

 fascination you will, I think, admit; and 

 I am of the opinion that it is also a land 

 of promise for the future of practical 

 medicine. 



The enormous advances made in the last 

 decades in the study of the morphology of 

 the cell are being paralleled by the gains 

 in our. knowledge of what may be called 

 intraeelliTlar chemistry. This new knowl- 

 edge is bearing the richest fruits, for 

 among them are the newer conceptions of 

 immunity, and of the physiological and 

 pathological activities of a whole series of 

 intracellular ferments. 



Looked upon broadly, the corner-stone of 

 modern pathology is toxicology. Without 

 entering into a discussion of the general 

 subject, I may remind you that while defi- 

 nite chemical poisons, such as arsenic, mor- 

 phia, strychnia, etc., are capable of inflict- 

 ing great injury upon difilerent organic 

 cells, their introduction in repeated feebly 

 toxic doses into the body is not followed 

 by a reaction the results of which are the 

 appearance in the blood and elsewhere in 

 the body of neutralizing and antidotal sub- 

 stances. The case is wholly different with 

 a series of less definite, chemically speak- 

 ing, toxic agents of which diphtheria and 

 tetanus toxins, ricin and venom, and patho- 

 genic bacteria and other cells are examples, 

 for when introduced into the living body 



in this manner, they give rise to antitoxic 

 and destructive substances to which the 

 names antitoxin and cytolysin are being 

 applied. 



The precise manner in which these an- 

 tagonistic bodies come to be produced is, 

 for the present, purely speculation. But 

 the lateral chain hypothesis of Ehrlieh, 

 which attempts to supply a graphic con- 

 ception of the manner of their formation, 

 has, whether expressing the truth or not, 

 led to great advances in our knowledge. 

 According to this hypothesis, the anti- 

 toxins, intermediary bodies, agglutinines, 

 etc., are yielded by certain constituents of 

 cellular protoplasm within the body, desig- 

 nated ' lateral or side chains ' or ' receptors, ' 

 which combine with the protoplasmic con- 

 stituents of body cells, bacteria or toxins 

 used for immunization. This conjunction 

 seems to injure or render useless the re- 

 ceptors of the cellular protoplasm without, 

 at the same time, so seriously damaging the 

 cell as to prevent regeneration. The re- 

 generative process does not exactly restore 

 the integrity of the cellular protoplasm, 

 but, in keeping with the general law of 

 regeneration enunciated by Weigert, there 

 tends to be formed similar bodies in excess. 

 The excessive or lateral chains, being use- 

 less to the cells in which they are produced, 

 are cast off and appear in the body juices 

 as intermediary bodies or 'ceptors, ' which, 

 according to their nature, are designated 

 uniceptors (antitoxins, etc.) and ambocep- 

 tors (intermediary bodies). 



In antitoxic neutralization direct union 

 between the toxin and antitoxin occurs; 

 while in bacteriolysis and other forms of 

 cj'tolysis there is conclusive evidence that, 

 although the intermediary body unites first 

 with the cells, this substance by itself can 

 not bring about injury or solution, but 

 after its union M'ith the cells the substance 

 called 'complement,' normally present in: 



