742 GENERAL THERAPEUTIC MEASURES 



tain complex, poisonous, proteid bodies called toxins, whicE 

 combine with the cells of the vital organism and destroy 

 their vital functions. Indeed, all the classic symptoms of 

 some of the infectious diseases may be caused by injection 

 of the toxins of the bacteria which cause these diseases; 

 such is the case with tetanus and diphtheria. Under favor- 

 able circumstances, however, when the dose of toxins is not 

 too large, the animal organism reacts against these toxins 

 through the possession of antitoxic principles in the fluids 

 of the body or by means of the secretion of antitoxins by 

 the cells of the animal tissues. 



The antitoxins set free from the cells then combine 

 with the toxins in the blood and so prevent the toxins from 

 uniting with the cells of the body and thus destroying them. 

 The subject is a very intricate one and is as yet in a some- 

 what nebulous state and we here present but the briefest 

 and crudest outline of the present and generally accepted 

 hypothesis. 



To illustrate the method of artificially manufacturing 

 antitoxins, we will take as an example the production of 

 tetanus antitoxin. 



Tetanus Antitoxin. — Tetanus bacilli are grown in bouillon 

 for two or three weeks in an incubator, when the culture is 

 filtered free of bacilli and furnishes tetanus toxins. A horse 

 is injected with one-half a cubic centimeter of toxin and an 

 equal amount of Lugol's solution to lessen its virulence. 

 The injections are repeated in increasing quantities till the 

 seventy-second day, when as much as 150 cc. are injected. 

 The horse is very susceptible and reacts with local inflam- 

 mation at the site of each injection and generally by the 

 production of antitoxins in its blood. A few days after the 

 last injection the horse's immunity is at its maximum — that 

 is, its blood is highest in antitoxic strength. The horse's 

 blood is then withdrawn under strictest aseptic precautions 

 and the serum is decanted after a day or two. The serum 

 is placed in aseptic bottles holding 10 cc, which are 

 sealed. 



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