634 
Dctoxicated  Vaccines. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.  1919. 
discovery  that  when  a  N/10  alkaline  solution  of  gonococci  was  pre- 
cipitated by  iV-hydrochloric  acid,  the  neutralized  supernatant  liquid 
was  strongly  toxic,  and  caused  a  severe  reaction  when  injected  sub- 
cutaneously ;  it  was,  indeed,  more  toxic  than  the  actual  precipitate 
of  the  gonococcus  substance  itself.  All  germs  consist  of  stroma — 
i.e.,  the  framework  of  the  organism — and  toxin,  produced  by  it. 
Both  are  soluble  in  alkali,  but  the  stroma  is  precipitated  on  the  ad- 
dition of  an  acid,  leaving  the  toxin  in  solution.  The  gonococcus, 
streptococcus,  pneumococcus  and  B.  influenza  are  very  readily  pre- 
cipitated from  their  alkaline  solution  by  acid.  Captain  Thomson  has 
found  that  the  toxin  could  be  removed  by  simply  washing  the  pre- 
cipitate repeatedly  with  a  weak  acid,  such  as  0.5  per  cent,  acid 
sodium  phosphate  containing  0.5  per  cent,  carbolic  acid.  He  prefers 
to  inject  the  precipitate  suspended  in  the  above-mentioned  solution 
to  redissolving  it  in  alkali  and  injecting  this  ?lkaline,  or  neutralized, 
solution.  The  use  of  detoxicated  vaccines  permits  the  injection  of 
considerably  larger  doses  than  have  hitherto  been  permissable. 
Apart  from  its  great  therapeutic  significance,  Captain  Thomson's 
discovery  of  a  method  of  detoxicating  vaccines  brings  us  a  consid- 
erable step  forward  in  elucidating  the  chemistry  of  bacilli  and  of 
their  toxins,  as  the  latter  can  now  be  isolated  and  studied. 
PREPARATION  OF  ALGIN. 
Chemists  throughout  the  country  will  be  interested  to  know  that 
the  Hercules  Powder  Company  is  devoting  a  good  deal  of  attention 
to.  the  extraction  of  algin  from  kelp.  Algin  is  a  substance  whose 
properties  are  widely  known,  being  a  vegetable  gum  of  extremely 
high  viscosity.  Its  manufacture  and  use  is  on  a  firm  footing  in 
Europe,  but  so  far  the  industry  has  never  become  well  established 
in  this  country,  largely,  it  is  thought,  because  of  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  securing  a  uniform  supply  of  fresh  kelp  at  a  reasonable  cost. 
The  experience  gained  by  the  Hercules  Powder  Company  in  harvest- 
ing kelp  for  the  manufacture  of  war  materials  has  overcome  these 
difficulties  as  far  as  this  organization  is  concerned. 
There  is  a  wide  field  of  possible  usefulness  for  algin.  Algin 
compounds  in  general  give  an  exceedingly  viscous  solution,  and  for 
that  reason  their  application  as  a  sizing  for  textiles  and  paper,  as  a 
thickener  for  printing  colors,  and  as  a  proofing  for  interior  walls 
