INFECTIOUS MYXOMATOSIS OF RABBITS : PREPARATION OF ELEMENTARY BODIES AND STUDIES OF SEROLOGICALLY ACTIVE MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISEASE

From the results of the experiments described in this paper it is obvious that large amounts of elementary bodies of myxoma can be obtained in a relatively pure state by means of the methods used. Furthermore, it is evident that infectious myxomatosis is a viral disease in which elementary bodies of the same order of magnitude as vaccinal elementary bodies play a conspicuous rô1e in that they either represent the etiological agent or are intimately associated with it. The bodies are specifically agglutinated by antimyxoma serum and are agglutinated to a less extent by serum from rabbits convalescing from fibroma, a disease closely related to myxoma. In virus-free filtrates of emulsions prepared from infected skin there is a soluble precipitinogen or precipitinogens specific for the malady. Moreover, a specific precipitinogen or precipitinogens are demonstrable in virus-free serum of animals acutely ill as a result of extensive infection with myxoma virus. It is believed that this is the second viral disease, yellow fever (14) being the first, in which a specific soluble antigen free from virus has been found in the serum of ill animals.