ON THE CAUSATION BY FILTERABLE AGENTS OF THREE DISTINCT CHICKEN TUMORS

Abstract

A causative agent has been separated from three chicken tumors of very different sort, namely a spindle-celled sarcoma, an osteochondrosarcoma, and a spindle-celled sarcoma peculiarly fissured by blood sinuses. This was accomplished after the tumors had been transplanted repeatedly and their malignancy enhanced. Each of the tumor-producing agents is a distinct entity in that it gives rise only to growths of the precise kind from which it has been derived. All pass through Berkefeld cylinders impermeable at the same test to small bacteria, and two of the three retain their activity in tumor tissue that has been dried or glycerinated. All are strikingly dependent for their action on derangement of the tissue with which they are brought in contact. The general findings strongly suggest that the agents are of about the same size, and of the same natural class. It is perhaps not too much to say that their recognition points to the existence of a new group of entities which cause in chickens neoplasms of diverse character.