CHAPTER XV. 



Hemolysis — The Hemolytic System — Identification of Specific Immune 

 Bodies and Specific Antigens by Their Ability to Fix Complement — The 

 Wassermann Reaction — Schematic Representation of Reactions. 



THE HEMOLYTIC REACTION. 



The term hemolysis relates to a phenomenon through 

 which hemoglobin is caused to escape in solution from red 

 blood corpuscles. The process is also known as "laking." 

 It may be brought about in a number of ways — physical, 

 chemical, and vital. It is with the latter that we are here 

 concerned. 



As a result of the investigations of Landois we have known 

 for a long time that the blood of one species of animal often 

 exhibits destructive action upon the corpuscles of the blood 

 of an animal of different species. He showed that grave 

 toxic symptoms, sometimes fatal results, follow upon the 

 introduction of the blood of one species into the veins of 

 another. The blood of the dog is a powerful solvent for the 

 blood corpuscles of many other animals, while that of the 

 horse and of the rabbit has very little solvent action. The 

 corpuscles of the rabbit are readily laked by the blood 

 serum of a number of other species while those of the cat 

 and the dog are much more resistent. The corpuscles of 

 the sheep and of the rabbit are dissolved by dog's serum in 

 a very few minutes. 



Landois' investigations explain in a satisfactory way the 

 (294) 



