28 TOXINS AND ANTITOXINS. 



functional groups possessing an elective afifinity 

 for the tetanic poison. 



Means of Defense Possessed by the Organism 

 against the Action of Toxins. — We have already seen 

 that the renal organs serve for the elimination of 

 the toxins normally produced in the organism by the 

 simple play of its cellular mechanism. Experience 

 has shown that the toxins introduced from with- 

 out into the circulation are generally finally elim- 

 inated, even though in the meantime the modifi- 

 cations they have imprinted on the economy may 

 be transmitted hereditarily; and that their influ- 

 ence on the general nutrition and the normal func- 

 tionation of the entire organism persists even after 

 their elimination. 



Much has been said regarding the elimination of 

 these toxins by the urine, but the experiments made 

 by Metin, at the Institut Pasteur, have shown the 

 inaccuracy of this assumption, and it has been 

 necessary to seek another. 



It has been remarked that oxidation destroys 

 the toxins in vitro, and it has been thought that 

 a process resembling disinfection may well take 

 place within the tissues of the animal economy, 

 but no decision has been arrived at regarding the 

 possible mechanism of this action, which some 

 attribute to the action of the oxidizing ferments 

 of the organism, or to the action of certain special 

 cells. 



