Some Aspects of Hæmolysis

MANY years ago, Sachs ( Biochem. Zeit. , 12 , 278; 1908) showed that normal serum which ordinarily inhibits the hæmolysis of red blood corpuscles by soaps when present before the addition of the hæmolyte, accelerates this hæmolysis if it is added after the addition of the soap to the corpuscles. Later, Ponder ( Proc. Roy. Soc. , B, 95 , 403; 1923) studied this phenomenon with taurocholate as the hæmolyte. In a recent paper we found ( Jour. Ind. Chem. Soc. , 5 , 261; 1928) that under the conditions of the experiment used by us, no acceleration of taurocholate hæmolysis could be observed irrespective of the manner of the addition of the serum, and Ponder suggested to us, in a private communication, that this was due to the particular conditions of our experiment, and that the acceleration could be observed under different conditions.