Immunity in Infective Diseases

CHAPTER I

IMMUNITY IN UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS 11 Infective diseases of the unicellular organisms.—Intracellular digestion in the Protozoa.—Amoebo-diastase.—Part played by digestion in the defence of the Protozoa against infective parasites.—Defences of the Paramaecia against micro-organisms.—Part played by irritability in defence in the lower organisms. Immunity of unicellular organisms to toxins.—Acclimatisation of bacteria to toxic substances.—Protective secretion of membranes by bacteria. Adaptation of the Protozoa to saline solutions—of yeasts to poisons—of yeasts to milk-sugar. Irritability of unicellular organisms and Weber-Fechner’s psycho-physical law.

CHAPTER II

IMMUNITY IN MULTICELLULAR PLANTS 29 Infective diseases of plants.—Plasmodia of the Myxomycetes and their chemiotaxis.—Adaptation of the plasmodia to poisons.—Pathogenic action of Sclerotinia upon Phanerogams.—The cicatrisation of plants.—Defence in plants against Bacteria.—Sensitiveness of vegetable cells to osmotic pressure.—Adaptation of plants to modifications of osmotic pressure.—Dependence of the chemical phenomena upon the irritability of the vegetable cells.—The law of Weber-Fechner.

CHAPTER III

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON IMMUNITY IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 40 Examples of natural immunity among the Invertebrates.—Immunity against micro-organisms and insusceptibility to microbial poisons are two distinct properties.—The refractory organism does not eliminate micro-organisms by the excretory channels.—It destroys them by a process of resorption.—The fate of foreign bodies in the organism.—The resorption of cells.—Intracellular digestion.—This digestion effected by the aid of soluble ferments.—Digestion in Planarians and Actinians.—Actinodiastase.—Transition from intracellular digestion to digestion by secreted juices.—Digestion in the higher animals.—Enterokynase and the part it plays in digestion.—The psychical and nervous elements in digestion.—Adaptation of the pancreatic secretion to the kind of food.—Excretion of pepsin in the blood and in the urine.

CHAPTER IV

RESORPTION OF THE FORMED ELEMENTS 67 Digestion in the tissues.—Resorption of cells in the Invertebrata.—Resorption of red corpuscles by the phagocytes of the Vertebrata.—Phagocytes.—Various categories of these cells.—Macrophages and microphages.—Part played by macrophages in the resorption of the formed elements.—Digestive property of the macrophagic organs.—Solution of the red blood corpuscles by the blood serums.—The two substances which operate in haemolysis.—Macrocytase and fixative.—Analogy of the latter with enterokynase.—Escape of the macrocytase during phagolysis.—Suppression of phagolysis.—Resorption of the spermatozoa.—Presence of fixatives in plasmas.—Origin of fixatives.

CHAPTER V

RESORPTION OF ALBUMINOID FLUIDS 106 Resorption of albuminoid substances.—The precipitins of blood serum which appear as a result of the absorption of serums and of milk.—Absorption of gelatine.—Leucocytic origin of the ferment which digests gelatine.—Anti-enzymes.—Antirennet.—The anticytotoxins.—Antihaemotoxic serums.—Their two constituent parts: anticytase and antifixative.—Action of anticytase.—The antispermotoxins.—Origin of anticytotoxins.—Ehrlich’s theory on this question.—Origin of antihaemotoxin.—Origin of antispermotoxin.—Production of this antibody by castrated males.—The antispermofixative produced when the spermatozoa are excluded.—Distribution of spermotoxin and antispermotoxin in the organism.

CHAPTER VI

NATURAL IMMUNITY AGAINST PATHOGENIC MICRO-ORGANISMS 128 Natural immunity and the composition of the body fluids.—Cultivation of the bacteria of influenza and pleuro-pneumonia in the fluids of refractory animals.—Resistance of Daphniae to the Blastomycetes.—Examples of natural immunity in Insects and Mollusca.—Immunity of Fishes against the anthrax bacillus.—Immunity of frogs against anthrax, Ernst’s bacillus, the bacillus of mouse septicaemia, and the cholera vibrio.—Natural immunity in the cayman.—Immunity of the fowl and pigeon against anthrax and human tuberculosis.—Immunity of the dog and rat against the anthrax bacillus.—Immunity of Mammals against anthrax vaccines.—Immunity of the guinea-pig against spirilla, vibrios, and streptococci.—Natural immunity against anaerobic bacilli.—Fate of Blastomycetes and Trypanosomata in the refractory organism.

CHAPTER VII

THE MECHANISM OF NATURAL IMMUNITY AGAINST MICRO-ORGANISMS 175 The destruction of micro-organisms in natural immunity is an act of resorption.—Part played by inflammation in natural immunity.—Importance of microphages in immunity against micro-organisms.—Chemiotaxis of leucocytes and ingestion of micro-organisms.—Phagocytes are capable of ingesting living and virulent micro-organisms.—The digestion of micro-organisms in phagocytes is most often effected in a feebly acid medium.—Bactericidal property of serums.—Phagocytic origin of the bactericidal substance.—Theory of the secretion of the bactericidal substance by leucocytes.—Comparison of the bactericidal power of serums and of blood plasmas.—The bactericidal substance of blood serums must not be considered a secretion-product of leucocytes; it remains within the phagocytes, so long as they are intact.—The cytases.—Two kinds of cytases: macrocytase and microcytase.—Cytases are endo-enzymes, allied to trypsins.—Changes in the staining properties and in the form of micro-organisms in the phagocytes.—Absence or rarity of fixatives in the serums of animals endowed with natural immunity.—The agglutination of micro-organisms does not play any important part in the mechanism of natural immunity.—Absence of antitoxic property of the body fluids in natural immunity.—The phagocytes destroy the micro-organisms without their ingestion being preceded by neutralisation of the toxins.

CHAPTER VIII. Survey of the Facts Bearing on Acquired Immunity Against

SURVEY OF THE FACTS BEARING ON ACQUIRED IMMUNITY AGAINST MICRO-ORGANISMS 207 The discovery of attenuated viruses and its application to vaccination against infective diseases.—Vaccination by microbial products.—Vaccination with serums.—The acquired immunity of the frog against pyocyanic disease.—The acquired immunity against vibrios.—Extracellular destruction of the cholera vibrio.—Part played by two substances in Pfeiffer’s phenomenon.—Specificity of fixatives.—Phagolysis and its relation to the extracellular destruction of vibrios.—Part played by phagocytosis in the acquired immunity against vibrios.—Fate of the spirilla of recurrent fever in the organism of immunised guinea-pigs.—Acquired immunity against the bacteria of typhoid fever and pyocyanic disease.—Acquired immunity against swine erysipelas and anthrax.—Acquired immunity against the streptococcus.—The acquired immunity of rats against Trypanosoma.

CHAPTER IX

THE MECHANISM OF ACQUIRED IMMUNITY AGAINST MICRO-ORGANISMS 250 Cytases and fixatives.—Only the latter are augmented in the immunised organism.—Properties of the fixatives.—Difference between them and the agglutinative substances.—The part played by the latter in acquired immunity.—Protective property of the fluids of the immunised organism.—Stimulant action of the body fluids.—The protective power of serum cannot serve as a measure of acquired immunity.—Examples of acquired immunity in which the serums exhibit no protective power.—Phagocytosis in acquired immunity.—Negative chemiotaxis of leucocytes.—Theory of attenuation of micro-organisms by the fluids of immunised animals.—Refutation of this theory.—Phagocytosis acts without requiring any previous neutralisation of the toxins.—The origin of the fixative and protective properties of the body fluids.—The relation between these properties and phagocytosis.—The side-chain theory of Ehrlich and the theory of phagocytes.

CHAPTER X

RAPID AND TEMPORARY IMMUNITY AGAINST MICRO-ORGANISMS, CONFERRED BY SPECIFIC AND NORMAL SERUMS, OR BY OTHER SUBSTANCES, OR BY MICRO-ORGANISMS OTHER THAN THOSE AGAINST WHICH IT IS DESIRED TO PROTECT AN ANIMAL 300 Immunity conferred by specific serums.—Analogy of the mechanism of this immunity with that observed in immunity obtained with pathogenic micro-organisms and their products.—Part played by phagocytosis in the immunity conferred by specific serums.—Influence of opium on the course of immunisation by these serums.—Stimulant action of specific serums.—Protective and stimulant action of normal serums.—Influence of fluids, other than serums: broth, urine, physiological saline solution, etc. Antagonism between anthrax and certain bacteria.

CHAPTER XI

NATURAL IMMUNITY AGAINST TOXINS 325 Examples of natural immunity against toxins.—Immunity of spiders and scorpions against tetanus toxin.—Immunity of the scorpion against its own poison.—Antivenomous property of the blood of the scorpion.—Immunity against tetanus toxin in the larvae of Oryctes and in the cricket.—Immunity and susceptibility of frogs against this toxin.—Natural immunity of reptiles against tetanus toxin.—Antitetanic property of the blood of alligators.—Immunity of snakes against snake venom.—Immunity of the fowl against tetanus toxin.—Immunity of the hedgehog against poisons and venoms.—Immunity of the rat against diphtheria toxin.

CHAPTER XII

ARTIFICIAL IMMUNITY AGAINST TOXINS 342 Adaptation to poisons.—Artificial immunity against bacterial and vegetable toxins and against snake venom.—Principal methods of immunisation.—Immunisation by toxins and toxoids.—Inoculation against diphtheria toxin.—Phenomena produced in the course of vaccination against toxins.—Rise of temperature.—Leucocytosis.—Development of antitoxic power.—Properties of antitoxins.—Mode of action of antitoxins.—Action of antitoxins in vitro.—Their action in the organism.—Influence of living elements on the combination of antitoxin with toxin.—Antitoxic action of non-specific serums, of normal serums, and of broth.—Immunity against toxins is not in direct ratio to the amount of antitoxins in the body fluids.—Hypersensitiveness of an animal treated with toxin.—Diminution of the susceptibility of the organism immunised against toxins. Hypotheses as to the nature and origin of antitoxins.—Hypothesis of the transformation of toxins into antitoxins.—Hypothesis of receptors detached from cells as the source of antitoxins.—Hypothesis of the nervous origin of tetanus antitoxin.—Fixation of tetanus toxin by the substance of the nerve centres.—The relations between saponin and cholesterin.—Anti-arsenic serum.—Part played by phagocytes in the struggle of the animal against poisons.—Probable part played by phagocytes in the production of antitoxins.

CHAPTER XIII

IMMUNITY OF THE SKIN AND MUCOUS MEMBRANES 403 Protective function of the skin.—Exfoliation of the epidermis as a means of ridding the animal of micro-organisms.—Localisation and arrest of micro-organisms in the dermis.—Intervention of phagocytes in the defence of the skin. Elimination of micro-organisms by the conjunctiva.—Microbicidal function of the tears.—Absorption of toxins by the conjunctiva.—Protection of the cornea.—Elimination of micro-organisms by the nasal mucosa.—Protection by the respiratory channels.—Dust cells.—Absorption of poisons by the respiratory channels. Alleged microbicidal property of the saliva.—Part played by microbial products in the protection of the buccal cavity.—Antitoxic function of the saliva. Antiseptic action of the gastric juice.—Antitoxic function of pepsin. Protective function of the alimentary canal.—Absence of microbicidal power from the intestinal ferments.—Protective function of the bile.—Antitoxic rôle of the digestive ferments.—Favouring and retarding functions of the intestinal micro-organisms.—Destruction of toxins by these micro-organisms. Defensive rôle of the liver. Protective function of the lymphoid organs of the alimentary canal. Protective function of the mucous membrane of the genital organs.—Autopurification of the vagina.

CHAPTER XIV

IMMUNITY ACQUIRED BY NATURAL MEANS 433 Immunity acquired after recovery from infective diseases.—Immunity acquired in malaria.—Humoral properties of convalescents from typhoid fever.—Preventive power of the blood of persons who have recovered from Asiatic cholera.—Antitoxic power of the blood of persons who have recovered from diphtheria. Immunity acquired by heredity.—Absence of hereditary immunity properly so called.—Immunity conferred by the maternal blood and by the yolk. Immunity conferred by the milk of the mother.

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