ANTITOXINS

Many diseases are believed to be caused by the formation in the blood of poisonous bodies known as toxins. In the course of the disease, in order to counteract the effect of these - poisons, the body produces certain substances to which the name ‘antitoxins’ has been given. Not only do they check the course of the disease, but they render the sufferer immune against subsequent attacks. In order to produce artificial immunity, or to a ist the sufferer in fighting a disease, antitoxins are prepared and injected into the blood. Their method of preparation consists in first making in broth a culture of the bacillus which produces the disease. In this way, the toxin, or poison, is produced. The bacilli are then killed by an antiseptic and removed from the broth by filtration. The filtrate consists of a solution of the toxins, and a small quantity is injected into the blood of a healthy horse. At certain intervals further quantities are injected, in doses of increasing strength. The body of the horse combats the effect of the toxin by the formation of anti-toxins, and as soon as the animal is foind, by test, to be immune from the disease, a quantity of blood is drawn from its veins. The serum is produced from the horse’s blood by separation of the corpuscles, and then treated with a preservative and measured into doses. By injecting this serum into the blood of human beings, their resistance to attack, or their power of fighting the particular disease is greatly increased. Much succe has attended this method of treatment in fighting dip the ria and, to a le er degree, pneumonia, tuberculosis, yellow fever, bubonic plague, cholera, tent an us and meningitis. An antitoxin for treating hay fever has met with only partial succe , and attempts to treat scarlet fever, rheumatism, dysentery and anthrax have failed.