Collected Studies From the Research Laboratory, Vol. 3 PDF Download

Author: William H. Park
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781331942405
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Excerpt from Collected Studies From the Research Laboratory, Vol. 3: Department of Health City of New York Historical - As far back as 1858 Haeckel had observed that particles of indigo injected into the veins of certain molluscs could shortly afterwards be found in the blood cells of the animal. However, the significance of this and other similar observations was not appreciated, until Metchnikoff, in 1883, called attention to their bearing on infection and immunity. The outcome of his investigations was the establishment of the well-known doctrine of phagocytosis, the principle of which is that the leucocytes attack and destroy the micro-organisms which have invaded the tissues. Metchnikoff's theory found but little acceptance, the more so since the studies of Nuttall, Pfeiffer, Behring, Ehrlich and others demonstrated a great variety of protective substances in the serum of immune animals. As time went on Metchnikoff realized that the serum played an important part in the destruction of bacteria, but he interpreted this action as being a stimulation of the leucocytes. Denys and Leclef showed that the increased phagocytosis in an immunized animal was due to an alteration in the serum. In 1903 A. E. Wright, of England, discovered a certain substance in blood serum which united with the bacteria and rendered them more easily taken up by the phagocytic cells. He called this substance opsonin and showed that it was present in normal serum and in the serum of infected individuals, though in the latter, as will be discussed directly, it varied considerably from the average normal content. By means of absorption tests, he showed that the opsonin has a specific affinity for the bacteria and none for the leucocytes. Neufeld and Rimpau discovered the same point independently. The opsonins for the staphylococcus prepare only staphylococci, those for tubercle only tubercle bacilli, etc. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.