HEMOLYSINS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN

1. The sap of Cotyledon scheideckeri possesses hemolysins for the red corpuscles of different animals. 2. The hemolysins of vegetable sap can be bound by erythrocytes and cannot be separated. 3. A definite quantity of erythrocytes is able to extract from the sap only a part of the hemolysins it contains. 4. The quantity of hemolysins in the sap of different plants is subjected to the same fluctuations as that of bacterial agglutinins, precipitins, and hemagglutinins. 5. As the hemolysins are bound by erythrocytes, the hemolysis can take place not only at 37° but also at 15–16°. 6. The thermostability of the hemolysins varies from one individual plant to another. 7. In many cases the vegetable sap loses its hemolytic properties at a certain temperature and recovers them at a higher one. 8. The vegetable sap is unable to produce complete hemolysis of erythrocytes. 9. But the sap of many plants acquires the power to dissolve red corpuscles completely after I hour of heating at 134° and 144°. 10. Erythrocytes modified by Cotyledon sap cannot be dissolved completely even by distilled water. 11. The agglutination of the erythrocytes and their hemolysis are conditioned, probably, by different substances. 12. The hemolytic amboceptor and the hemolysin of Cotyledon scheideckeri can be bound with the same receptor of the erythrocytes.