SKIN REACTIONS WITH GONOCOCCUS FILTRATES (TOXIN

It has been generally held that the toxicity of the gonococcus is due to the so-called endotoxins that are set free only after the death of the organism. De Christmas 1 reported that he was able to obtain a true exotoxin in cultures by growing the gonococcus in serum broth medium. The filtrate obtained by passing the culture through talc was toxic to guinea-pigs, mice and rabbits, and when diluted 1: 10 and held in the anterior human urethra, a definite temporary urethritis and discharge occurred. He stated also that this toxin was destroyed by heating at from 75 to 80 C. He believed it to be an exotoxin, because it could be detected in the broth cultures within twenty-four hours. Other workers report that they have obtained, from autolysed extracts of the gonococcus, a toxic substance that answers all the requirements of De Christmas' toxin; and they have attributed