EXPERIMENTS ON THE PRODUCTION OF SPECIFIC ANTISERA FOR INFECTIONS OF UNKNOWN CAUSE : II. THE PRODUCTION OF A SERUM...

By the method of selective absorption with tissue, protective serum antibodies have been demonstrated in the case of an infection of unknown cause; namely, a chicken sarcoma transmitted by a filterable agent. Geese were repeatedly injected with the finely ground sarcoma and with blood from fowls moribund of it; and their sera acquired the power to prevent the tumor-producing agent from causing growths. That this was not due to antibodies elicited by the chicken tissue as such was shown by exhaustion of the goose sera with chicken red cells, a step which had not the least effect on the tumor-preventing power, and also by experiments with rabbits immunized as were the geese. These animals developed strong chicken antibodies in their sera which failed nevertheless to affect the tumor-producing agent. Serum immunity to the chicken sarcoma is weak at best; and in the case of some other infections of unknown cause, more striking results may be anticipated from the method of selective absorption. It is even conceivable that by its means sera of therapeutic usefulness may become available. But much remains to be settled as regards the dangers of exhausted sera and the limitations of the method. Fortunately there exists an immediate field for the latter in laboratory studies on the nature of immunity to infections of which the cause has not been recognized.