118 Report of Schimmel $ Co. April 1913. 



Needless to say, this innovation applies only to the United States, for which 

 country two distinct kinds of serum had to be made ab initio, seeing that there are 

 two distinct Hay Fever complaints, caused by entirely different plants. In England 

 and on the Continent, however, the serum will be the same as hitherto, inasmuch as 

 only one style of serum was used here ever since Pollantin was first introduced, there 

 being no necessity for two distinct kinds, as Europe is blessed with the ordinary 

 variety of Hay Fever only. 



Another novelty will be placed definitely on the market this year, viz., our 

 POLLANTIN SALVE. This is a simple trituration of Dr. Dunbar's Hay-Fever serum 

 Pollantin (powdered) with a slightly scented, mild and neutral, oleaginous base. It 

 appears to be more especially indicated in cases where, for several reasons, the 

 ordinary form of Pollantin, powder as well as liquid, is not tolerated by hyper-sensitive 

 patients. In such cases it is advisable to use the Ointment (Salve) preferably pro- 

 phylactically, particularly so for nasal symptoms. Full instructions for use are given 

 in literature accompanying every package. 



O. Kammann 1 ), the well-known collaborator with Dunbar, has published an extensive 

 paper on pollen-toxin (the agent which causes hay-fever), and its principal characteristics. 

 Kammann propounds the question to what extent the toxic properties of pollen antigens 

 are affected by the presence of protective ferments, lipoids and substances akin to, or 

 derived from, albumen. He leaves it an open question whether toxic action is set 

 up by a body which is free from albumen or by one which responds to a limited 

 extent to reactions for albumen, or by a concatenation of this body with lipoid sub- 

 stances (lecithin) or with proteines, as in the older conception of the toxalbumins. As 

 Kammann points out, in the experimental solution of this question considerable diffi- 

 culties have been encountered, partly owing to the labile character of the bodies 

 concerned, and partly because of our still very imperfect knowledge of their chemical 

 structure. Hence, where chemical methods of resolution fail, recourse must be had 

 to the more subtle biological methods in order to determine whether it is possible for a 

 body which has been purified by chemical manipulations to possess at one and the 

 same time several properties (toxic, hemolytic, and fermentative). Applied to pollen- 

 toxin, these considerations resulted first of all in an improved method of preparing 

 the toxic principle, by extracting the broken-up pollen with distilled water instead of, 

 as previously, with a solution of common salt, in order to obviate the entering into 

 solution of the physiologically inactive globulines. With the object of destroying the 

 starch which has been dissolved out, and which is extremely detrimental to the biological 

 behaviour of the toxin, the pollen-solution is treated for several hours with diastase- 

 solution at 37°, left to stand for 24 hours in a refrigerator, placed in a centrifugal machine, 

 and precipitated with alcohol in the familiar manner. In the course of this mani- 

 pulation the enzymes are precipitated with the toxin. The precipitate is quickly filtered, 

 and the last traces of alcohol are driven off at room-temperature in an apparatus con- 

 structed for the purpose, by passing-over a current of dry air. The substance is now 

 again dissolved in distilled water and the albumens are left to be digested by the 

 proteolytic ferments which are also present, an operation which takes place in the 

 course of several days' standing in a refrigerator. After this manipulation there results 

 at last a preparation which occurs in the form of yellowish, silky-lustrous scales, and 

 which still responds to the biuret-test, but not to Millon's or to Molisch's reactions. 



*) Biochem. Zeitschr. 46 (1912), nos. 1 and 2. From a copy kindly sent to us. 



