386 LOCAL TLSSUE REACTIVITY 



l)e demonstrated in tlie s(ia))in«.s of tlie hemorrhagic lesions of 

 the skin. Kiehuio^vski aiifl Selzer (i9'^4/;) also sii,t><^ested that 

 llnomhi carrying bacteria or bacterial toxic substances may pos- 



FiG. 42. Horse immuni/ed tor period of t^vo years by weekl) subcutaneous and 

 intravenous injections ot meningococcus filtrates and vaccines. Glomerulus \\ith 

 capillary thrombi. (Shwartzman, Klemperer and Gerbcr, 1936.) 



sess reacting potency for tissues made reactive through acute and 

 chronic infections. It is of interest in connection with the above 

 that in 1921 Finkelstein asstuned that the presence of menin- 

 gococci in the purpinic lesions may mean a local sensitization. It 

 is obvious that the mechanisms as just described, may be respon- 

 sible for scattering of lesions and generalization of disease. 



In the attempts to correlate the various experimental hndings 

 in the phenomenon of local tissue reactivity with manifestations 

 of spontaneous infection in man the objection may be raised that 

 in the phenomenon, the state of reactivity is only of short dina- 

 tion and, therefore, cannot be taken into consideration in the 

 pathogenesis of diseases of chronic cotnse. It has been obser\'ed, 

 ho^vever, that the state of reactivity can be extended for consider- 

 able length of time provided the same sites are reinjected at short 

 intervals of time ^vith active bacterial filtrates. Moreover, the 

 state of reactivity induced by active infections is of longer 

 duration (six days ^vith vaccinia virus infection, etc.) , and appears 

 only at certain stages of the infections. It is impossible as yet to 

 indicate any relationships bet^veen the morphological aspects of 



