416 



On the Recognition of the Individual by Hcsmolytic Methods. 

 [Preliminary Communication. ) 



By Charles Todd, M.D., Bacteriologist, Egyptian Government, and 

 R G. White, M.B., Director, Serum Institute, Cairo. 



(Communicated by Dr. C. J. Martin, F.E.S. Received May 5, — Read 



J«ne 16, 1910.) 



(From the Hygienic Institute, Public Health Department, Cairo.) 



The following is a brief account of some results obtained during the 

 course of an investigation into the artificially produced haemolytic isolysins 

 of the ox. 



The peculiar interest attaching to this class of bodies was first pointed out 

 by Ehrlich and Morgenroth in their classical studies on haemolysis, where 

 they showed by the treatment of goats with large quantities of laked goats' 

 blood, that hsemolytic isolysins were formed in the blood of the immunised 

 animals. Their investigations were made with sera prepared in this way. 



The isolysins so obtained were, however, somewhat weak : in the most 

 favourable case 0"3 c.c. of serum being required to heemolyse 1 c.c. of 5 per 

 cent, suspension of red blood corpuscles. 



It occurred to us that it might be interesting to examine the serum of the 

 cattle used for the production of Rinderpest serum at the Serum Institute in 

 Cairo, as these animals would appear to be under ideal conditions for the 

 formation of isolysins. We had at our disposal about 100 Egyptian cattle 

 immunised against Rinderpest by Kolle and Turner's method which consists 

 in a preliminary simultaneous inoculation of a small quantity of virulent 

 blood and a suitable quantity of serum, followed after a time, by a massive 

 dose of 4 litres of virulent cattle blood given intramuscularly and repeated at 

 intervals of about two months. 



The results of tlie investigation of the blood of these animals are being 

 published separately and need not be gone into in any detail liere, but we may 

 state that tliey entirely agree with the results obtained by Ehrlich and 

 Morgenroth in tlie case of the isolysins 'for the goat. We were, however, 

 fortunate in having at our disposal a large number of animals yielding 

 powerful sera. 



Tlie fresh serum of the immune cattle when tested on normal ox corpuscles 

 shows little or no hajraolytic action, but if a small (juantity of fresh guinea- 

 pig serum is added, hajmolysis takes place very rapidly. 



