RESISTANCE OF THE BODY 95 
Vaccination or Jenner’s process is still the recog¬ 
nized preventive or protective measure, and it has re¬ 
duced small pox from a dread pestilence to a disease 
producing fewer deaths than measles. 
The great Pasteur reasoned that “if an infectious 
disease be really a struggle for supremacy between 
man and microbe, it is probable that in vaccination for 
small pox the struggle is less severe for the patient, 
because the germs of small pox have somehow been 
weakened or enfeebled by their residence in the cow/’ 
The use of antitoxine for the prevention or treat¬ 
ment of diphtheria is perhaps the best example of that 
method of producing immunity. In this case the horse 
is chosen as the intermediate host for the production 
of antitoxine material. The toxines, or sometimes 
the germs themselves, are injected into the body of 
the healthy animal. The first dose is usually a small 
one. A slight reaction or fever may be noticed. The 
doses are gradually increased until the animal is found 
to be immune. Blood is then drawn from this immune 
horse and “its serum is found to contain the anti¬ 
toxine in abundance.” 
Some of this serum is then injected into a per¬ 
son who has been exposed to, is likely to be, or is 
ill with the disease. In the last case, to be effective, 
the antitoxine must be introduced at an early stage of 
the disease when there is not too much toxine to be 
neutralized. 
By the use of antitoxine thus obtained, the mortality 
Making 
Antitoxine 
Diphtheria 
Antitoxine 
