Abstract
One of us in a work 1 on “The Preparation of Diphtheria Antitoxin” endeavored to demonstrate by charts of the systemic reaction following injections of cultures of the bacillus of diphtheria and its toxin that the real crux of the process of immunization was to determine when to re-inject. This question is still unsettled; in short, of two animals treated the same, upon being re-injected the one, which may apparently be the better prepared, dies and the other recovers.
This aspect of immunization is very well brought out in the following example.
Römer and Joseph 2 re-infected two tuberculous sheep with a culture of which 1 mg. per 10 kg. killed healthy sheep in one month. One of these sheep was re-infected with 1 mg. per 10 kg. ten months after a previous inoculation with a .2 mg. per 10 kg. and 15 months after a first injection of .1 mg. per 10 kg. This animal died in 48 hours. The other one of these sheep was reinfected with the same dose (1 mg. per 10 kg.) ten months after previous injection of .2 mg. per 10 kg. This animal responded with an intense reaction. The reaction was followed by a return to health.
We have shown in studies read before this society that the blood of tuberculous animals especially when about to die of tuberculosis contains a depressor substance. The use of this blood in conjunction with tuberculin was likewise shown to give an effective immunity against fatal infection with the B. tuberculosis in one case, and in some others the fatal ending was delayed beyond the controls. It was also demonstrated that the injection of this serum shortly after the injection with the tuberculin rapidly caused death.
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