50 BACTERIAL POISONS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



weight when injected subcutaneously. Smaller doses cause a local 

 oedema and a somnolent condition, from which the animal recovers. 

 The larger doses produce a more extensive oedema, and the somno- 

 lence deepens to coma, terminating in death. In some cases the 

 spleen is enlarged. The absence of germs was determined by plate 

 culures. The alkaloid causes similar symptoms. It is, however, 

 more poisonous, and acts more rapidly than the albumoses. The 

 animal is affected immediately after the injection, and the gradually 

 increasing coma terminates in death. The alkaloid also causes 

 oedema and in many cases thrombosis of the small veins. Extrav- 

 asations into the peritoneal cavity are occasionally seen, and the 

 spleen is ordinarily enlarged and filled with blood. The fatal dose 

 for a mouse is from 0.1 to 0.15 gram, death resulting within three 

 hours. This alkaloid does not appear to be identical in its action 

 with the anthracin of Hoffa. Martin also succeeded in obtaining 

 like substances from the bodies of infected animals. He regards the 

 albumose as an antecedent of the ptomain. It is probable that the 

 albumoses obtained by Hankin and Martin are identical. Balp and 

 Carbone' succeeded in isolating from the oedematous tissue of an 

 animal dead with anthrax an albuminous body of slight toxicity, and 

 a similar result was obtained by Landi. ^ Maltzew ^ found that when 

 from 0.2 to 7 c.c. of a filtered bouillon culture of the anthrax germ 

 was injected subcutaneously in rabbits, it induced no symptoms, but 

 if the same animals were inoculated with anthrax within from ten to 

 eighteen days they died much more speedily than control animals. 

 It will thus be seen that Hankin's results have been several times 

 confirmed. However, it should be stated that Petermann * claims to 

 have repeated Hankin's experiments and obtained an albumose, the 

 only effect of which was to elevate the temperature from one to two 

 degrees, and Klemperer* obtained from boiled anthrax cultures an 

 albuminous substance which caused elevation of temperature. Han- 

 kin and Wesbrook * repeated the former's experiments, using a so- 

 lution of pure pepton as a culture medium. After some weeks, the 

 culture was filtered, treated with ammonium sulphate, centrifuged, 

 dialyzed, and precipitated with alcohol. In this way an albumose of 

 slight toxicity was obtained. 



Brieger and Frankel endeavored to prepare a toxalbumin from the 

 organs of animals dead with anthrax. The finely divided tissue was 

 thoroughly rubbed up with water, allowed to stand for twelve hours 

 in an ice-box and filtered through porcelain. The filtrate was evapo- 

 rated in vacuo at 30° to one-third its volume, and, after being acidi- 



' Criamale della R. accademia di medidna di Torino, 1891. 



' Rivista gmerale italixima di cUnica medica, 1891. 



' Russkaia Medieima, 1891. 



^Annales de I'lnstitut PaMem; 1892. 



^ Zeitachrift f. hlin. Medicin., 1892. 



^Amiates de VInstitMt Pasteur, 1892. 



