ANTHRAX. 51 



fied with a few drops of acetic acid, was treated with ten times its 

 volume of absolute alcohol. This mixture was allowed to stand for 

 twelve hours longer in an ice-box, after which the precipitate was 

 collected on a filter, dissolved in a small volume of water, refiltered, 

 and reprecipitated with alcohol, this being repeated until a perfectly 

 clear aqueous solution was obtained. The albumose was further 

 purified by dialysis, and as thus obtained, it was found to be freely 

 soluble in water and to give the ordinary reactions for albumin. 

 The toxicity of this albumose is much greater than that of similar 

 substances obtained by others. 



Marmier grew anthrax germs in the following medium : 



Water, 1,000 grams. 

 Pepton, 40 " 



Sodium chlorid, 15 " 



Sodium phosphate, .5 " 



Potassium phosphate, .2 " 



Glycerm, 10 " 



The pepton used was obtained from the commercial preparation by 

 precipitation of the other proteids with ammonium sulphate and by 

 removing the salt by dialysis. In this menstruum the anthrax 

 bacillus, especially the sporeless variety, grew abundantly. The 

 toxin was obtained from the culture medium by precipitation with 

 ammonium sulphate. When dried it is soluble in water and in a 

 one per cent, solution of phenol ; insoluble in chloroform, ether, and 

 absolute alcohol. It is said not to give any of the reactions of albu- 

 minoids, propeptons, peptons, or alkaloids, but since there is no men- 

 tion of the reactions tested, and since precipitation with ammonium 

 sulphate is a pepton and propepton reaction, this statement must be 

 considered as somewhat indefinite and possibly misleading. There 

 is no proof that the toxin obtained was pure ; in fact, the report 

 makes the reader certain that the final product was by no means 

 chemically pure. The author was surprised in studying the poison- 

 ous effects of this toxin to find that while twenty milligrammes killed 

 some rabbits readily, others resisted seventy milligrammes ; and it 

 does not seem to have occurred to him that this might be due to the 

 fact that the most of his product was inert, and that these differences 

 in effects were due to the unequal distribution of the active agent. 

 However, we will give the author's conclusions as he states them : 



1. A specific toxin may be extracted from glycerin-pepton cultures 

 of the anthrax bacillus. 



2. This toxin does not give the reactions of albuminoid substances. 

 It does not change starch, sugar or glycogen. 



3. The animals (chickens, frogs, fish) that are immune to the 

 anthrax bacillus, are also indifferent to the toxin. Similar results 



