40 
Tetanus toxine inoculated into the gluteus muscle of a guinea pig is found in the 
corresponding ischiatic nerve in evident doses one and a half hours after the injection, 
whereas it is found much quicker in the blood, viz, after ten minutes. 
^Minimal doses of tetanus toxine are sufficient to cause severe s^nuptoms of tetanus 
poisoning if injected into the parench^mia of a nerve. The same doses if injected 
under the skin or into the circulation produce no tetanic symptoms.. 
If tetanus antitoxin is injected into a nerve trunk and immediately thereafter 
tetanus toxine is inoculated into the corresponding muscle enervated by this nerve, 
it is possible to prevent the toxine reaching the corresponding nerve center and no 
symptoms of tetanus of any kind appear in the muscle area in question. 
Tetanus toxine inoculated directly into the nerve has no other channel of trans- 
ference to the nerve centers than the nerve substance itself. This fact is demonstrated 
by severing the spinal cord at a particular point, in which case the effect of the toxine 
is limited to the area corresponding to the section of the cord connected with the seat 
of the inoculation. And, further, the section of the spinal cord prevents the spreading 
of the toxine to the upper regions of the cord. 
By cutting a particular nerve trunk the muscles innervated by this nerve show no 
indication of tetanus following the inoculation of tetanus toxine. 
If tetanus antitoxin is injected directly into the substance of the spinal cord, then 
we see a decided abbreviation of the period of incubation, and such inoculation gives 
us a characteristic picttu’e of the disease known as tetanus dolorosus. 
If tetanus toxine is injected into the circulation, we have, after a longer or shorter 
period of incubation, dependent upon the animal species, all muscles simultaneously 
seized with tetanus contractm’es, because the tetanus toxine is absorbed by all the 
nerve trunks at the same time and thus conveyed to the nerve centers. In such cases 
we do not get the so-called local tetanus which is observed when the toxine is injected 
under the skin or into the parenchyma of the nerve. It requires a much stronger dose 
of toxine in order to produce symptoms of tetanus in an animal when the toxine is 
injected directly into the circulation than when it is given subcutaneously or directly 
into a nerve. 
The tetanus toxine injected into the oirculating blood quickly passes out into the 
lymph. The tetanus toxine can not be demonstrated with certainty in the cerebro- 
spinal fluid. 
Loew and Meyer® say that the characteristic symptoms of tetanus 
poisoning are to a certain extent due to the effects of the toxine upon 
the central nervous system. An exception was found by Donitz in 
the condition called by him ‘Aetanus sine tetano.” He found that 
in intravenous injections in rabbits of tetanus toxine in quantities 
insufhcient to produce local tetanus the animals neA^ertheless rapidly 
lost weight and died. Donitz believed that the cause of cachexia was a 
parenchymatous degeneration. Loew and H. Meyer injected a num- 
ber of rabbits with small cpaantities of tetanus toxine after the manner 
of Donitz and found that some of them died without symptoms of 
tetanus and that some remained well. The animals that died showed 
symptoms of coccidial infection, and he therefore concluded that the 
cachexia was not caused by the tetanus toxine. 
Loew and Meyer then conducted some experiments to determine 
< whether animals could be rendered hypersusceptible to tetanus 
“Loew, 0., and Meyer, H.: Ziu* Ivenntniss der Tetanusvergiftung. Sitzunggb. d. 
Gesellsch. f. Beford. d. ges. Xatmw. zu Marb. (1904), 1905, p. 11-13. 
