CHEMICAL . PEODUOTS OF BACTERIA. 47 



had peptone in their cultivating, medium. Martin examined the 

 products by using as a culture medium a 1 to 2 per cent, solution 

 of alkali-albumin in broth made from beef, omitting the peptone. 

 After about thirty days the bacillus had converted the alkali-albumin 

 into albumoses, which gave the reactions of proto- and deu.tero^ 

 albumose, with small quantities of an organic acid. A single dose 

 of these albumoses produced weakness of the hind limbs, which after 

 a time passed off. The animal was killed, and the nerves which 

 were examined showed degeneration. Repeated intravenous in- 

 jection on successive days, amounting in all to a dose of 1'69 grams 

 per kilo, of body weight, produced high fever, followed by depres- 

 sion of temperature, severe watery diarrhcea, and emaciation. The 

 tendon reflexes began to diminish after the ninth day, on the 

 eleventh or twelfth day there was definite paralysis of the hind legs, 

 and on the seventeenth day reflexes could scarcely be obtained. 



Martin thus gives his method of abstracting the poisonous pro- 

 ducts either from cultures or from diphtheritic tissues. In dealing 

 with tissues, the spleen and other organs ai'e first finely minced and 

 placed in rectified spirit, and the blood is also placed in spirit, and 

 allowed to stand till the proteids are coagulated ; they are then 

 filtered, and the residue extracted with cold water, all the extracts 

 are mixed together, and evaporated at 35° 0. to a small. bulk, and 

 thrown into absolute alcohol. Most of the albumoses are precipi- 

 tated, the alcohol is poured off, evaporated to dryness at a low 

 temperature, and extracted by absolute alcohol until nothing more 

 dissolves. The residue is deutero-albumose and mineral salts. All 

 the proteid is mixed together, dissolved in water, and precipitated by 

 alcohol, the process being repeated to remove any traces of bodies 

 soluble in alcohol and the excess of mineral salts. At the last 

 precipitation the precipitate is allowed to stand binder alcohol for 

 about two months. The alcohol is then poured off, and the pre- 

 cipitate dried in vacuo. 



The resulting product is a light yellowish-brown powder soluble 

 in water, cold or boiling, giving a yellowish and faintly acid or 

 nearly neutral reaction. It is composed of deutero-albumose with 

 a slight amount of proto-albumose but no peptone. It gives the 

 ordinary actions of proteids and a well-nlafked biuret reaction. It 

 is precipitated from solution by ammonium sulphate, and slightly 

 by nitric acid. The reactions are similar to those of peptic deutero- 

 albumose. The alcoholic extract of the tissues is strongly acid, and 

 contains free fatty acid and an organic acid insoluble in chloroform. 

 The organic acid is readily soluble in water and absolute alcohol. 



