PERrrONITIS AND BACTEREMIA IN MICE 



A. Identic findings from blood and peritoneal fluid: B + P 



Findings from peritoneal fluid when sterile blood: P 



Findings from blood when sterile peritoneal fluid: B 



Total 39 



B, Partial identity between peritoneal and blood findings. 



Recovered from blood 

 E. coli E. coli + 

 paracoli 

 From E. coli + paracoli 1 

 peri- E. coli + A, aerogenes 1 

 toneal E. coli + enterococci 1 

 fluid Paracoli + Proteus •* 



Figure 5. Bacterial species recovered from blood and peritoneal fluid in mice sac- 

 rificed or succumbed after prolonged hypothermia. 



after various pericxis of hypothermia. In ten animals sacrificed after 

 24 or 40 hours , the peritoneal fluid as well as the blood was sterile. 

 The findings from the remaining 82 mice are presented in Figure 4, 

 where colony counts below 500 are marked "+" and those above 

 500 "+++". 



From the table it is evident that in mice sacrificed in good con- 

 dition, peritonitis and bacteremia are fairly infrequent when com- 

 pared to their occurrence in spontaneously dead animals after long 

 or short periods of hypothermia. In the group which succumbed early 

 bacteria were present in peritoneal fluid in 5 instances without oc- 



247 



