Formation of Agglutinins. 



195 



the production of antibodies of various sorts, while (2) moderately 

 high atmospheric temperatures (30°-35° C). apparently tend to 

 decrease the power of producing antibodies, presumably by a 

 lowering of general vital resistance without the stimulus which 

 accompanies the production of fever. We reported certain 

 experiments of our own which were in harmony with the last 

 conclusion, inasmuch as they showed an apparent diminution 

 in hemolysin production in rabbits kept at an atmospheric tem- 

 perature of 29°-32° C. The present report deals with similar 

 experiments upon the effect of moderately high temperature 

 upon the formation of agglutinins. 



This particular immunity reaction has been studied in relation 

 to temperature by several observers. Roily and Meltzer 1 kept 

 rabbits in an incubator at 34°-38° under which condition their 

 body temperature rose to 40 0 , they lost weight and showed a de- 

 crease in hemoglobin; yet when injected with typhoid bacilli they 

 showed a marked increase both in bactericidal and agglutinating 

 power. On the other hand Graziani 2 studied the agglutinating 

 power of the blood of rabbits kept at lower temperatures and 

 found, as workers on other immunity reactions have done, that 

 moderately high heat was harmful and not helpful. The blood of 

 rabbits kept at 2°-4° C. would agglutinate at a dilution of 1 in 

 1,541; at 18 0 , 1 in 854; at 32 0 , 1 in 727. In another series the 

 blood of rabbits kept at 32 0 agglutinated at a dilution of 1 in 1,250, 

 while if the animals were occasionally relieved by cold baths the 

 agglutinating power rose to 1 in 2,425. 



Studies on the agglutinating power of the blood of human 

 beings after hot baths are conflicting. Leube 3 reports that typhoid 

 convalescents showed a material increase in the agglutinin content 

 of the blood after hot baths (40 0 for 30 minutes) ; while Moon 4 

 could not find any such increase after Turkish baths (30 minutes 

 in a dry room at 82 0 C. and 20 minutes in a steam room at 54°)- 



In our own experiments, which were carried out in the bacterio- 

 logical laboratories of the University and Bellevue Hospital Medi- 

 cal College, five series of rabbits, including 14 animals in all, were 



1 Deut. Arch. f. klin. Med., XCIV, 1908, p. 335. 



2 Centr.f. Bakt. Orig., XLII, 1906, p. 633. 



3 Verhandl. d. Deutschen Kongresses f. innate Med., XXVII, 1910, p. 218. 

 *Jour. Infect. Dis., XIV, 1914, p. 56. 



