98 BACTERIAL POISONS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



severe purging. The following is the record of one experiment with 

 this substance : " An aqueous solution of the crystals was given to a 

 dog by the mouth at 3 p. m. The rectal temperature was 101" F. 

 before the administration. At 3.15 retching and vomiting set in and 

 continued at intervals for more than two hours. At 3.30 the tem- 

 perature was 103° F. and at 3.55 the animal began to purge. The 

 first discharges contained much fecal matter, but subsequently they 

 were watery and contained mucus stained with blood. At 4, the 

 temperature was 103.5° F., and remained the same at 4.30. The 

 animal was seen again at 10 a. m., the next day, when its temper- 

 ature was 101.5° and recovery seemed complete." 



This base was not obtained in sufficient quantities for an ultimate 

 analysis. The platino-chlorid crystallizes in fine rhombic prisms 

 and the hydrochlorid in long, delicate, red needles. The red color 

 seems to be inherent to the substance and not due to impurities. The 

 mercury and platinum compounds are insoluble in alcohol, soluble in 

 water. The hydrochlorid is soluble in both water and alcohol. 



In 1890, Vaughan reported the isolation, from water supposed to 

 cause typhoid fever, of a number of toxicogenic germs, and the 

 chemical properties of two of these have been studied. They belong 

 to the proteids, and an analysis of one of these by Freer shows it to 

 belong to the nucleins. These poisons are soluble in water, the 

 opalescent solution showing a distinctly acid reaction. They are not 

 precipitated by heat or nitric acid singly or combined. They dissolve 

 in nitric acid, forming a colorless solution, which becomes yellow on 

 the addition of ammonia. They dissolve in caustic alkalis, and the 

 solution becomes purple on the addition of copper sulphate. 



On white rats these poisons produced symptoms which are identi- 

 cal with those following inoculations with the living germs. The rat 

 seems to shiver with cold and gives evidence of abdominal pain. 

 It lies with its limbs flexed and head drawn down for a few seconds, 

 then stretches out the limbs. It lies on the side for a short time, then 

 sits with the head drawn under the body. Dogs shiver as with cold, 

 but at the same time the rectal temperature is from 1° to 4° above 

 the normal. The following experiments seem to show that the 

 poison accumulates in the nerve centers : Two guinea-pigs were 

 treated with hypodermic injections of one of these poisons, the 

 amount used being about ten times the dose which ordinarily proves 

 fatal to one of these animals. Within twelve hours both were dead. 

 Plate cultures made from the liver, blood, spleen, brain and spinal 

 cord remained sterile. Small quantities of the brain and spinal 

 cord were rubbed up in a sterilized dish with sterilized water, and 

 two c.c. of the emulsion was injected under the skin of each of 

 four guinea-pigs. These animals seemed to be very excitable the 

 next day, throwing themselves about violently in their cages when 

 slight noises were made near them. Within a period of from six- 



