Improvements in or connected with antitoxins / [Wolfgang Weichardt].

  • Weichardt, Wolfgang.
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Improvements in or connected with antitoxins / [Wolfgang Weichardt]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    N° 710 A.D. 1904 Date of Application, nth Jan., 1904 Complete Specification Left, 1st Oct., 1904—Accepted, 15th Dec., 1Q04 PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. Improvements in or connected with antitoxins. I, Wolfgang Weichardt, Doctor of Medicine, of 14 Lutherstrasse, Berlin Germany, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:— I have discovered, as a result of numerous experiments, that fatigue of the human or animal body is produced by certain toxin substances, which are hardly traceable 5 in the normal (not fatigued) organism, but which are always found in the fatigued organism, and in considerable quantity. These substances are saturated or rendered harmless by antitoxins produced in the organs of the body, when at rest, chiefly during normal sleep. In the blood, which is the vehicle of the anti-toxin, an appreciable quantity of toxins of fatigue is only 10 found in cases of extreme fatigue. My invention relates to the production of compounds or pharmaceutical prepara¬ tions, which contain the antitoxins mentioned above and consequently have the effect, when introduced into the fatigued body or human organism, that the same recovers its normal condition in a comparatively short time, without requiring any 15 sleep. For this purpose muscular fatigue is induced in animals, preferably up to the commencement of yawning fits or spasms, after which they are bled to deprive the muscles of blood, the muscles are cut out, while taking rigid aseptic precautions, after which they are maintained at a temperature of about 37° C for several hours, 20 then pounded in a sterilised mortar, then the muscle pulp thus obtained is pressed and relieved of superfluous liquid in a press, which has been previously sterilized. Suitable liquids, such as blood serum, or a physiological solution of table salt, may be added to and mixed with the muscle paste, before it is pressed. The plasma thus obtained is filtered through earthenware filters and injected into small animals, such 25 as guinea pigs or mice, to test it as regards the quantity of toxins of fatigue con¬ tained in the plasma. If the quantity is found sufficient, the plasma is repeatedly injected to suitable animals, such as rabbits, goats and horses, for obtaining the anti-toxin. After a short time the materials constituting the organs of the animals thus 30 treated, especially the blood serum, which is comparatively rich in antitoxins adapted to rapidly neutralise or render harmless the toxins of fatigue, and is therefore capable of rapidly strengthening or animating an exhausted or fatigued body, are suitable for use in an appropriate form by introducing them into the alimentary circulation of the human body, for instance as an injecting liquid, or (because the 35 antitoxins pass the stomach and intestines without decomposition) as an addition to enemas, or as an admixture to articles of food or stimulants, or in the shape of pills, tabloids or similar preparations. [Price 8d.]