SPECIFIC THERAPY WITH BACTERIOPHAGE SUSPENSIONS 561 



remote from the lesion. The results were essentially the same in both 

 cases. 



One might say, he states, that they have been excellent, and that the pro- 

 cedure has invariably been well tolerated by the patients. The therapeutic 

 effects may be summarized thus: — In all cases where the pathological condition 

 involved only purely reactional phenomena a rapid regression of the lesions and 

 the restitutio ad integrum was witnessed. Wherever there was a tendency toward 

 suppuration and necrosis, this developed rapidly, the abscesses matured better 

 and more quickly, and the necrotic material was eliminated more rapidly. In 

 short, recovery was accomplished after a very short delay.* 



* It is interesting that Bazy attributes the curative power, not to the bac- 

 teriophage itself, but to the dissolved bacterial substances. Some of the reasons 

 which he advances for this view are rather peculiar. "In vitro, he says, we ob- 

 serve the formation of secondary cultures." Surely, and we know that secondary 

 cultures with races of maximum virulence occur, or do not occur, according to the 

 conditions of the experiment, — the reaction of the medium, the temperature, etc. 

 But the fact that under certain conditions they do develop i?i vitro does not prove 

 that they must also occur in vivo. 



He affirms, in support of his thesis, that Gratia has obtained the same results 

 with filtrates of cultures which have autolyzed spontaneously, and with sus- 

 pensions of the bacteriophage which have been heated at 70°C. Let us state at 

 once that heating at 70°C. does not necessarily destroy the bacteriophage, but this 

 is of little moment. 



Bazy refers to two of Gratia's publications but he alters the sense strangely. 

 In the first. Gratia^" states that he wished to determine whether the local and 

 general reactions following the injections were due to the presence of the bacte- 

 riophage or of the bacterial substances. He concluded that the latter are the 

 cause, because suspensions heated at 70°C. cause the same reactions. But he 

 does not say a word about the therapeutic effects obtained with such heated 

 suspensions. 



In the second paper, criticizing the experiments of Besredka on local immunity, 

 Gratia-''- injects into the skin of rabbits, either suspensions of the bacteriophage, 

 or autolysates, or pure sterile bouillon. After a certain interval he injects these 

 animals, in the region of the first injection, with a staphylococcus culture. And, 

 while in the unprepared control animals there occurs a large local lesion, in those 

 which have previously been inoculated, even ivith pure bouillon, no lesion develops. 



Gratia associates this experiment with the old experiment of Metchnikoff, 

 which showed that if some pure sterile bouillon was inoculated into the peritoneal 

 cavity of guinea pigs a few hours before the injection of a culture of vibrios, the 

 guinea pigs were protected. 



This experiment of Gratia has no relation to the therapeutic treatment of 

 staphylococcus infections. In case it is desired to bring out such a relationship, 

 I would simply advise Bazy to attempt the treatment of cholera or of f urunculosis, 

 by a single injection of some sterile bouillon. 



Gratia's experiment, and the conclusions which he has drawn with reference 

 to the theories of Besredka are perfectly logical. Bazy has attempted to general- 

 ize from them, and has derived some very absurd conclusions. 



