Excerpt from The Journal of Hygiene, 1908, Vol. 8 Evidently this phenomenon Shows a very marked parallelism with the effect Of Danysz. There the chloracetic acid is represented by the toxin, the alkali by the antitoxin, and the toxicity by the acidity. If we, take equivalent quantities Of toxin and antitoxin in two solutions and divide the toxin solution in equal parts, the quantity of free toxin required is greater if we mix the one part Of the toxin with the antitoxin, and let it stand for a time and thereafter add the rest Of the toxin, than if the total quantity Of toxin is mixed simultaneously with the antitoxin. There is one difference, but only a quantitative one, namely that in a mixture of equivalent quantities Of toxin and antitoxin there is always a certain quantity Of free poison present, just as there is free boracic acid in a mixture of equivalent quantities of ammonia and boracic acid. In other words, the reaction between toxin and antitoxin is incomplete just as that between ammonia and boracic acid, whereas the reaction between alkali and chloracetic acid is said to be complete. But every chemist knows that this is not-exactly true, since the sodium chloracetate is hydrolysed to a certain, although very slight, extent. If now in the first fraction there is free antitoxin (as is always the case), the limit value of the Danysz Effect is proportional to this quantity of free antitoxin, just as the limit value of the corresponding neutralising effect of the chloracetic acid is proportional to the quantity of free sodium hydrate. But as the proportionality for this later effect is only valid till the quantity of free sodium hydrate reaches a certain limit, the same will probably be true for the Danysz Effect, but this point has not as yet been investigated. Now Mr Craw says that I am not entitled to suppose that the Danysz Effect tends to a certain limit with increasing time of reaction of the first fraction. If this were not true, we might suppose that we would Obtain an infinite effect, i.e. An infinitely great toxicity Of the mixture, if the time Of reaction increased indefinitely. That would be just as right as to suppose that the acidity of the chloracetic acid mixture would increase to infinity with increasing time Of reaction of the first fraction. It seems to me unnecessary to enter into a more detailed discussion Of this point. 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.