THE PHILIPPINE 



Journal of Science 



B. Medical Sciences 



Vol. Ill NOVEMBEE, 1908 No. 5 



A STUDY OF THE PRECIPITIN AND COMPLEMENT FIXATION 

 REACTIONS. 



By Harry T. Marshall and Oscar Teague. 

 {From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I. 



It is well known that if red corpuscles are treated with an inactivated, 

 specifically hemolytic serum, together with a fresh serum containing 

 complement, the corpuscles are dissolved. No haemolysis is produced if 

 the fresh serum is not added, or if it contains no free complement. Any 

 procedure which removes the free complement will therefore prevent 

 haemolysis, and, conversely, we can determine whether any given treat- 

 ment of a fresh serum removes free complement from it by performing 

 the haemolysis test with it after such treatment. It is clear from this 

 that the occurrence or non-occurrence of haemolysis may be used as the 

 indicator of the presence or absence of free complement in the fresh 

 serum. 



If serum containing free complement is present when a bacterial ex- 

 tract is mixed with the corresponding antibacterial serum, among other 

 changes occuring, some reaction takes place, in the course of which the 

 free complement disappears. The nature of the reaction and what 

 becomes of the complement is not known, but the indicator described 

 above proves conclusively that there is no complement remaining free 

 after the reaction has taken place. 



It has been found that this is a general reaction, which according to 

 some observers, occurs whenever complement is present during the union 

 of any specific antigen and antibody, or according to others, during the 

 union of any specific antigen with its corresponding precipitin. There 

 are also a number of other agencies which are not specific, but which 

 lead to the disappearance of complement. 



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