Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
March,  1895.  j 
Antitoxin. 
153 
odor,  with  a  suggestion  of  mint,  and  a  sharp,  biting  taste.  The  suggestion  of 
mint  in  the  odor  varies  in  strength  in  different  samples,  and  probably  does  not 
belong  to  acetone,  but  comes  from  a  minute  trace  of  impurity.  It  boils  at 
56'3°  C.  (Regnault).  The  s.  g.  when  very  nearly  anhydrous  is  at  \%  C.  0-808157 
at  jfo  C.  0796620,  at  ffo  C.  0786988.  It  mixes  in  all  proportions  with  alcohol 
and  water,  and  is  a  very  general  solvent,  dissolving  many  substances  that  are 
insoluble  in  alcohol. 
ANTITOXIN. 
Under  this  title  there  has  been  developed, 'during  the  past  year,  a 
substance  which,  without  doubt,  will  place  the  human  race  in  a 
position  towards  diphtheria,  that  it  already  enjoys,  with  the  aid  of 
vaccine  virus,  towards  smallpox. 
History. — Like  many  other  discoveries,  that  of  antitoxin  has 
been  one  of  evolution.  French  writers  go  back  to  the  year  1888, 
when  Drs.  Hericourt  and  Richet  announced  that  the  blood  of  animals, 
which  had  been  rendered  immune  to  a  poison,  possessed  the  power 
of  destroying  or  neutralizing  that  poison. 
About  four  years  ago,  Dr.  Emil  Behring,  of  Halle,  announced  the 
discovery  of  the  use  of  an  immunized  serum  in  the  prevention  and 
cure  of  diphtheria.  Since  that  time,  experiments  have  been  con- 
stantly prosecuted,  until,  at  the  present  time,  the  remedy  is  to  be 
obtained  in  commerce.  Behring  has  declared  that  Lceffler's  dis- 
covery, in  1884,  °f  the  diphtheria  bacillus  was  the  first  chapter  in 
the  history  of  antitoxin. 
Dr.  Roux,  at  the  Pasteur  Institute,  Paris,  has  developed  the  sub- 
ject, so  far  as  the  French  are  concerned,  although  he  has  said  that 
the  credit  of  first  introducing  this  serum  must  be  awarded  to 
Behring. 
Preparation. — The  first  step  towards  obtaining  antitoxin  should 
be  denominated  the  preparation  of  diphtheric  toxin.  The  latter  is 
prepared  by  cultivating  the  diphtheria  bacillus,  obtained  directly 
from  a  patient,  in  flasks  of  bouillon  exposed  to  the  air,  at  a  temper- 
ature of  370  C.  Usually  this  operation  is  allowed  to  go  on  for 
several  months,  in  order  to  accumulate  a  quantity  of  the  poison, 
but,  according  to  Roux,  who  conducts  the  cultivation  in  moist  air, 
it  may  be  accomplished  in  three  weeks. 
The  resulting  solution  is  next  passed  through  a  porcelain  filter, 
which  arrests  the  bacilli  and  yields  a  clear,  intensely  poisonous 
solution. 
