﻿424 STRONG. 



point out that three days' autolysis of cholera cultures killed at 60° causes no 

 loss of their ability to produce bacteriolytic substances upon injection. 



Obviously, a given cholera organism is endowed with a certain number of 

 receptors. It is difficult to conceive how these receptors could be increased by 

 autolytie digestion of the organism. The advantage of autolytic digestion in 

 obtaining the immunizing substances from the cholera spirillum for use in 

 prophylaxis is that it permits these substances to be separated from other 

 injurious and nonimmunizing substances in the protoplasm of the cell, and hence 

 permits of the inoculation of a larger dose of immune bodies than does the 

 method in which the entire bacterial cell is injected. 



A consideration of great practical importance — namely, the influence of the size 

 of the dose upon the antibody production — is discussed by Friedberger and 

 Moreschi, who point out that 1/500 oese injected intravenously gives rise to the 

 production of the same amount of antibodies not only as 1/100 or even 1/10 oese, 

 but to the same amount as does a 2,000 times larger injection, namely 4 oesen. 

 These results of Friedberger and Moreschi have not been confirmed by other authors, 

 and the immunity obtained in cholera must still be considered within certain 

 limits to be proportional to the dose inoculated, as I pointed out several years 

 ago. 16 



Schmitz, 17 in a very exhaustive article from the Institute for the Investigation 

 of Infectious Diseases in Bern, calls attention to the immunizing value of cholera 

 prophylactic prepared according to the method of Lustig, and shows that by its 

 use animals may be immunized against cholera infection and that, following 

 inoculations with it, both agglutinative and bacteriolytic substances develop in 

 their sera. However, these antibodies according to his experiments w T ere not 

 produced in very great amounts, an agglutinative value of only 1 : 400 being 

 obtained after an injection of 0.25 milligram of the vaccine and only one 1 : 800 

 after the size of the dose had been increased to 0.8 milligram. 



B. Klein IS performed a few experiments for the purpose of comparing the 

 value of immunization with killed agar and bouillon cultures of the cholera 

 organism with that produced by the autolytic extracts of the spirillum. In all, 

 eleven animals were immunized, four with the autolytic extracts and five with 

 the killed cultures. All were found later to be immune to cholera infection. In 

 concluding his remarks the author quotes Wysokowicz, who states that it is still 

 unproved how long the immunity is retained after inoculation with the autolytic 

 extracts of the cholera organism and that the method of preparation of the 

 prophylactic is more complicated than with that recommended by Kolle. How- 

 ever, in very susceptible persons the autolytic extracts are recommended because 

 of the fact that the local and general reaction following their use is milder than 

 when Kolle's method is employed. 



Serkowski 19 during the epidemic at Lodz inoculated eighteen persons, eleven 

 with killed agar cultures of the cholera organism and seven with the separated 

 free receptors. Upon the later examination of the bactericidal properties of the 

 blood serum of the inoculated, he found no difference in value between those vac- 

 cinated with the killed cultures and those with the extracts of the organism. 

 However, he points out that the preparation of the vaccine according to the 

 former method is much simpler. The size of the dose employed in either method 



16 Publications Bureau of Government Laboratories, Biological Laboratory 

 (1904), 21, 1. J. Exp. Med. (1905), 7, 229. 



17 Ztschr. f. Hyg. u. Infektionskrankh. (1905), 52, 1. Centrbl. f. Bakteriol. 

 Orig. (1906), 41, 118. 



18 Centrbl. f. Bakteriol. Orig. (1906), 41, 118. 



13 Ibid, 255. 



