76 TOXINS AND ANTITOXINS. 



first been strongly expressed. It is then dissolved 

 in water.* 



Tetanus Toxin. — The fact that the tetanus 

 bacillus never penetrates to the interior of the 

 organism enabled us long ago to foretell that it 

 secretes a very powerful toxin capable of dia- 

 lyzing and diffusing through the economy. Kuno 

 Faber was the first to fully recognize the fact that 

 the culture bouillon of this bacillus, fully steril- 

 ized by filtration through porcelain, possesses an 

 exceedingly high toxicity, and exerts a toxic 

 effect on 50 000 000 times its own weight of living 

 organism. Brieger had previously, however, ex- 

 tracted three ptomaines from the cultures of the 

 bacillus — tetanin, tetanotoxin, and spasmotoxin. ■\ 

 In order to obtain a highly active liquid, the same 

 culture medium is inoculated several times in 

 succession, but filtering each time before the new 

 inoculation; the microbes greatly increase in 

 number after each fresh inoculation, and the toxic 

 substance developed by them accumulates. t 



Experiment has shown that the culture bouillon 

 ■thus obtained contains two kinds of toxic sub- 



* Roux and Martin: Contribution ^ I'Etude de la Dipht^ria. 

 Annal. de I'Instit. Pasteur, viii, p. 512. 



t Die Pathogenese des Tetanus. Berlin. Klin. Wockenschr. 

 1890, No. 31. 



JNaillard: Compt. rend, de I'.Acad. des Sciences, cxx, p. 

 1181, 



