A TYPE SPECIFIC SUBSTANCE DISTINCT FROM THE SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE IN PNEUMOCOCCUS TYPE I.
1. Evidence has been presented for the existence of a substance distinct from the specific carbohydrate in the autolytic products of Pneumococcus Type I. 2. The substance reacts specifically by precipitating homologous antiserum which either occurs naturally without antibody against the specific carbohydrate or has been deprived of that antibody artificially. 3. In guinea pigs passively sensitized with such antisera the homologous autolysate containing the substance alone produces typical lethal anaphylactic shock. 4. In weakly alkaline solution the substance is destroyed by boiling. In weakly acid solution it resists a temperature of 100 degrees C. for at least (1/2) hour. Autoclaving for 1 hour at 15 pounds pressure in either acid or alkaline solution destroys its activity as precipitinogen. 5. The substance is resistant to peptic digestion. 6. The chemical nature and the possible identification of the substance as a haptene have been discussed.
Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Harvard University Medical School, Boston.
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Enders