RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN AGGLUTININ, ETC. 53 



antephase only those units of agglutinable substance which remain united 

 with agglutinoid can absorb equal units of agglutinin ; that is : 



"quantity of combined agglutinin" = C (units of agglutinable substance) — ~ 

 while 

 "quantity of free remaining agglutinin" = — — "quantity of combined agglutinin" 



5-(°-D 



1 B 



where =r is the grade of dilution and — must be within the limits of 



B 



C = rr. From these equations it needs no proof that Arrhenius' formula 



is not correct, because according to his formula: 



that is : 



(quantity of absorbed agglutinin) 3 

 (quantity of free-remained agglutinin) 



B 



= k 



(°-g) , 



which is impossible when D and C are variable, even with any values 

 of C and D. 



The degeneration of one unit of agglutinin will not always lead to 

 the production of one unit of agglutinoid. In many cases the agglutinin 

 degenerates even more completely, the uniting group being destroyed as 

 well as the functioning group. Thus the conversion of agglutinin into 

 agglutinoid is irregular both in regard to rate and amount. The de- 

 struction of agghitinophore groups is greater on the addition of alkali 

 than of acid, while formalin does not affect the serum so seriously. From 

 the results of my experiments we see that the irregular production of 

 agglutinoid by the degeneration of agglutinin is not due to a difference 

 between the haptophore groups of agglutinin and agglutinoid, but to the 

 degree of destruction of the haptophorous groups of agglutinin, brought 

 about by chemical or physical factors. We also secure a similar irregu- 

 larity in the production of agglutinoid in the blood of animals'. 



The results of experiments show us that the quantity of agglutinoid 

 production is not in a constant ratio to the degeneration of agglutinin. 

 The cause is to be found in the irregularity of agglutinin production 

 and in some forces which are able to destroy not only hemiagglutinin, 

 but also haptophore groups. 



If a serum contains two different kinds of agglutinin A and A', and 

 their respective agglutinoids B and B', the haptophore groups of A and 



