It is known that some persons develop symptoms of anaphylactic character after eating certain foods, of which' shellfish, egg-white, and certain fruits are familiar examples, It is believed by many that asthma, urticaria and hay-fever have their origin largely in a condition of hypersensitiveness to special foreign proteins. The symptoms produced when a foreign protein is introduced into a sensitized animal are usually referred to a hypothetical substance-"anaphylatoxin"-formed by the action of

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... antibody on antigen. There are reports in the' literature to the effect that anatomic changes in the tissues occur in acute' anaphylaxis, and Longcope-has advanced the theory that repeated anaphylactic shock may be responsible for-such chronicdiseasesasnephritis. By a series of animal, experiments Longcope' believes that he has shown that repeated nonfatal poisoning with foreign: protein is responsible for some cases of chronic nephritis, cirrhosis of, the liver, and chronic myocarditis. Our interest in the etiology 'of chronic nephritisIed us to repeat someof his experiments. ANATOMIC CHANGES IN ACUTE ANAPHYLAXIS Gay and Southard" described hemorrhages .and areas of fatty degeneration in guinea-pigs that .died in acute anaphylactic shock and in those killed subsequent to severe shock. The hemorrhages were widely distributed, but were most commonly found in the mucosa of the stomach and. in the lungs. Areas of fatty degeneration were found in capillary endothelium, in the mucosa of the stomach, and in the cardiac and voluntary muscle. The hemorrhages were interpreted as the result of the degeneration of the capillary endothelium. But Anderson and Rosenau" in repeating this work could find no evidence