390 LOCAL TLSSUE REACTIVITY 



lliat intra\'ciious adminislration ol tyj)lu)i(l \a(cinc into typhoid 

 lexer j)atic'nt.s l)rou,»lit al)()ut a critical (liop in tcnij)eratine and 

 not inlrecjiiently elicited bleedin<> in the intestines, lun^s and 

 nose and hemorrhage in the skin. 



Considerations siu h as the foregoing may j^rove ol \aliie in 

 studies on the etiology of hitherto unknown infections diseases 

 of man. Also, in the search for the etiological factors of chronic 

 diseases of nnknown etiology there may exist the possibility that 

 normal bacterial inhabitants assiniie a pathogenic role towards 

 tissue made reactive throtigh the preparatory effect of some bac- 

 terial factors released from distant infected foci. As shown in 

 Method 24 of Table X, the general intravascular preparation with 

 bacterial filtrates induces a state of reactivity in the kidneys, {pos- 

 sibly loecause of the high state of capillary permeability in the 

 organ. Therefore, this mechanism of elicitation of kidney injury 

 through the effect of distant foci has to be borne in mind. The 

 possible relation of "focal infections" to ne])hritis has been 

 strongly emphasized by ntmierous investigators in the past. 



RECAI^ITULATION 



The folloAving facts are taken as a basis for correlation of the 

 phenomenon of local tissue reactivity with bacterial allergy: 



1. The microorganisms responsible for the infection may lib- 

 erate active principles of the j)henomenon into the site of the 

 infection and adjacent tissues and being soluble may also diffuse 

 into distant tissues l)y w'ay of the general circulation. 



2. The infected animal may also possess antibodies to the anti- 

 gens of the bacteria responsible for the infection. 



3. The materials used for parenteral test injections of hyper- 

 sensitiveness (ttiberculin, etc.) , contain the specific antigen 

 homologous to the antibodies actively acquired in the coinse of 

 the infection. These materials may also contain various amounts 

 of the active principles of the phenomenon or be totally devoid 

 of them. 



In the light of the above fnidings bacterial allergy may present 

 the following double-phased mechanism. 



1. A state of non-specific tissue reactivity which is elicited by 

 means of the active principles supplied by the infected foci. 



2. The reactions obtained in the reactive tissue may be, A — 

 non-specific, i.e., produced by antigens not related to the infec- 

 tion, (a) when the injected antigen possesses active principles 



