The Selection of Horses for the Production of Diphtheria Antitoxin by an Intra-Palpebral Toxin Test

Abstract

Abstract An interesting result of the work of Park and Zingher1 upon the immunization of persons with mixtures of diphtheria toxin and antitoxin has been with regard to the production of antitoxin by various individuals. It has been shown that those persons who already possess immunity to diphtheria toxin more readily react to the injections with the production of antitoxin than do those individuals who possess little or no natural immunity to diphtheria toxin. This being the case, it occurred to us that if the same thing held true with horses, we might have, in a modification of the Schick test, some indication of the productive possibilities of horses with regard to diphtheria antitoxin. The experiments that we are about to report indicate that, to a considerable degree, the antitoxin productiveness of horses can be anticipated with the use of the Schick test.