CHEMICAL STUDIES ON BACTERIAL AGGLUTINATION : III. A REACTION MECHANISM AND A QUANTITATIVE THEORY

1. By the application of an absolute, quantitative microchemical method for the estimation of agglutinins, precise data have been obtained on the course of the agglutination of Type I pneumococcus by homologous anticarbohydrate. 2. Within the limitations imposed by the necessity for the agglutination reaction to take place at the bacterial surface, the reaction is shown to be analogous to the precipitin reaction and subject to the same laws. 3. The entire process of a typical instance of specific bacterial agglutination has been quantitatively accounted for on a purely chemical basis and expressed in the form of equations derived from the law of mass action. 4. Experimental verification of predictions based on the theory has shown a fundamental difference between this instance of specific bacterial agglutination and the commonly adduced analogies, and necessitated a revision of current conceptions regarding the rôle of electrolytes and of physical forces in the reaction.