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As already reported by many workers, some normal rabbit serum has a non-specific property to fix complement in a certain degree, when several kinds of antigen, viz. bacterial or lipoidal, are used. This effect can be demonstrated by using the antigens or the specific sera in which the haemolytic and anticomplementary action was determined not to be present. For this reason it may be apparently quite impossible to distinguish this effect from the specific fixation of complement. Based upon this fact it is generally indicated that in the conduction of specific complement fixation the rabbit might not be used, because this animal is not suitable for the close study of specific amboceptors. Regarding this problem, Schilling and Haesslin recognized this phenomenon first in 1908 by using normal rabbit serum which showed an apparent specific reaction with an alcoholic syphilitic liver extract antigen. In 1916, Kolmer and Trist found also that the similar reaction took place, caused by the normal rabbit serum when several kinds of bacterial antigens have been employed and, moreover, the phenomenon appeared more markedly as compared with the cases in which lipoidal antigens were employed. Besides these observers, Manteufel and Waithe, Browning and Mc Kengie came to the same result in their works with experimental trypanosomiasis; Dohi, Haeberstaedter, Blumenthal, Prausnitzs and Stern, Emmanuel, Epstein and Pribraum, Kolmer and Casselman, Trist and Kolmer also in the use of other lipoid antigens; Kritchewsky, Helleus, Huddlesson, Kaneko and others in the employment of several bacterial antigens. However, as observed by these authors the non-specific fixation affected with normal rabbit serum in the presence of several kinds of antigens does not appear in a constant effect and its manifestation varies with the individuality of rabbit used or the nature of antigens; furthermore, this phenomenon generally appears more remarkably in the use of inactive serum than in the employment of active serum, even when the serum is taken from one and the same rabbit. With regard to the intensity of the non-specific reaction, Kolmer and Pearce concluded that, working with the blood serum taken from one and the same rabbit for a long time, there is no evidence of any change in the reaction. On the other hand, Kaneko stated that in the case of using serum from a positively reacted rabbit, the amount of complement to be fixed was almost constant, but in some cases showed variability, and, on the contrary, with the negative serum, it was quite impossible to demonstrate any measurable change in the reaction. Concerning the elimination of such effect, Emmanuel proposed that the injection of salvarsan might be temporarily efficient for this purpose, while Epstein and Pribraum insisted that the same result could be obtained by the injection of mercurials. And Sachs and Georgi also described that the effect above mentioned could be eliminated by the removal of serum globulin by employing N/250 hydrochloric acid solution. Kolmer expressed later that though the mechanism through which this phenomenon takes place is not yet perfectly demonstrated, this effect can be acted by some elements which must be contained in both lipoid substance and the serum protein. And from his experiment with regard to their property, he stated that the capacity of the elements to fix complement will be remarkably enhanced by heating the serum at 56°C for half an hour, while it will be abated by treating at 62°C for the same length of time; and it will be lost completely by heating at 70°C for thirty minutes.
In our complement fixation tests with regard to the contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle, we also experienced that most of the normal rabbit serum showed the effect to fix complement reaction with the specific antigens, just as it was observed in other systems by several authors.

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1. The dragon-fly Anax parthenope is the intermediate host of Prosthogonimus putschkowskii found in the vicinity of Mukden.
2. Three species of dragon-flies other than Amax, viz. 2 Sympetrum sps. and 1 Orthetrum sp., are always free from the encysted larvae of the trematode under discussion.
3. The male fowl can be experimentally infested with the present parasite, especially harboured in the bursa fabricii.

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[in Japanese]

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