THE CONCENTRATION OF THE PROTECTIVE BODIES IN ANTIPNEUMOCOCCUS SERUM. SPECIFIC PRECIPITATE EXTRACTS

1. The protective substances contained in specific precipitates from antipneumococcus serum can be extracted by suitable chemical and physical agents, dilute sodium carbonate at 42°C. being especially advantageous as an extractive agent. 2. The resulting water-clear extracts, when made up to the original volume of the serum used for precipitation, protect animals almost as well as does the whole serum. 3. The bacterial extracts used in precipitating the protective substances from the serum act specifically; that is, a bacterial extract of pneumococcus of Type I removes the protective substances from a Type I immune serum only. 4. In a polyvalent serum of Type I and Type II, the protective substances of each type may be removed independently of each other by the successive addition of the homologous antigens. 5. Extracts of specific serum precipitates contain only one-fiftieth to one-sixtieth of the protein in the original serum, and about one-half the protein of the whole precipitate. 6. Extracts contain not only protective substances but agglutinins and precipitins. 7. Extracts and whole precipitates not only confer passive immunity but stimulate the production of active immunity to pneumococcus infection in rabbits and mice.