QUANTITATIVE EXPERIMENTS WITH ANTIBODIES TO A SPECIFIC PRECIPITATE. I

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Abstract
The antigenic properties of various antibodies from horse sera were investigated by injecting rabbits with a washed specific precipitate consisting of Type II pneumococcus (Pn II) horse antibody and the specific polysaccha-ride of the Pn II organism. The anti-precipitate antibody in the rabbit serum was quantitatively detd. by adding known amts. of horse specific precipitates and measuring the increase in N precipitated. Specific precipitates from anti-Pn II, Pn I, Pn C, and Hemophilus influenzae Type B, horse sera removed the same amt. of antibody from the rabbit sera. Specific precipitates from anti-crystalline egg albumin and anti-diphtheria horse sera removed about 1/2 of the antibody. A specific precipitate from a pepsin digested Pn I horse serum removed all of the rabbit antibody but followed a different quantitative course. From the quantitative course of these reactions and from expts. with specific precipitates from anti-Pn rabbit and pig sera it is concluded that the only antigenic specificity demonstrable for the antibodies is that due to their common species origin, and that the groupings responsible for their antibody function constitute either a small part of the total protein molecule or else are non-antigenic.

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