442 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



Nicolaier was first to suspect its existence. Kitasato sought 

 to isolate it. He, too, held the view that the poison was an 

 alkaloid acting like strychnin. 



Since 1886-87 Brieger has found evidence of the ]jresence 

 of poison in impure cultures made in beef, and in the brain 

 of sheep. He extracted from them certain venomous bases : 



Tetanin (C^^ H''"' O*) which in very small doses causes 

 prostration, lethargy, the classical symptoms of tetanus and 

 death, in small animals ; 



Tetanotoxin (C^ H" Az") a liquid that boils at 100" with 

 a disagreeable smell : a rather large dose of it causes restless- 

 ness, tremors, and violent convulsions; 



Spasmatoxin similar to cadaverin : it is very active and 

 tetanizing; 



Hydrotetanin which is convulsant and sialagogic. 



Brieger and Fraenkel have also separated a toxalbumin 

 from cultures of the tetanus and thought it was the principal 

 poison of the bacillus of Nicolaier. 



ANNOTATION. 



Recently (1899) in. the Annals of Inslitut Pasteur, Madsen has described 

 a toxin of tetanus which EhrHch had previously shown to be haemolytic. This 

 is tetano lysin. It is destroyed by 15 min. exposure to 60° C. and has a con- 

 stitution similar to toxin. Normal horse serum possesses a marked antihsem- 

 olytic action to tetanus. — L. A. M. 



It is demonstrated that the above bases and toxalbumin 

 of Brieger compete in causing the symptoms of tetanus, but 

 are only satellite products, that is, assistants to what is called 

 tetanus toxin. The latter, easily revealed in cultures, was 

 first obtained by Knud Faber, a student of Salomonsen of 

 Copenhagen, in 1890. He separated it by following the pro- 

 cess employed in diphtheria. He filtered a bouillon culture 

 of the bacillus of Nicolaier through porcelain and thus ob- 

 tained a liquid free from its germs, and which proved to be 

 very toxic when injected under the skin of animals (rabbits, 

 cavies, mice, etc.). It causes, after a period of incubation of 



