FREDERICK P. GAY 887 



Marble,' indicate that Besredka's results may be fully explained by the stimulating 

 effect of certain non-specific and even non-antigenic substances such as plain broth, 

 which, as we have shown, stimulate and collect the tissue macrophages in their 

 vicinity. Subsequent study^ has shown that collected macrophages have a very re- 

 markable protective value against virulent local streptococcus infections, and within 

 certain limits they may after collection be remobilized in other areas with equally 

 beneficial results. Similar results are offered by Bass.^ The importance of monuclear 

 tissue cells in directly combating various infections has been recently shown by 

 Nakahara,"! Merklen and Wolf,^ Bloom,^ Goldzieher and Peck,^ and Willis.^ 



Both staphylococcus and streptococcus broth filtrates have been used by Besred- 

 ka's followers in instances of human infections due to the respective micro-organisms. 

 A number of case reports collected from the literature have been offered by Besredka 

 as indicating a promising field for the use of filtrates in clinical medicine. They range 

 from boils and furuncles to osteomyelitis and puerperal fever. The categorically stated 

 sequence of favorable symptoms which follows the local application of "antivirus" 

 dressings in these cases is uniform and startling. The method certainly seems worthy 

 of a more searching investigation as to the mechanism involved in these apparent 

 cures. 



Intestinal infections. — In another series of investigations Besredka has considered 

 a group of human infections which are of intestinal origin, namely, cholera, dysentery, 

 and the t>'phoidal fevers. These infections are more difficult than the skin infections 

 to study experimentally since they do not produce their human syndromes in the 

 usual laboratory animals. 



The Shiga bacillus of dysentery does produce in rabbits, irrespective of the route 

 of introduction, lesions that recall human bacillary dysentery of the most toxic type; 

 hemorrhage in the agminated follicles follows the injection either of small amounts of 

 the living organism, of dead cultures, or of sterile toxic filtrates from its growth. The 

 fact that the lethal dose of Shiga bacilli for the rabbit is infinitely smaller intravenous- 

 ly than when given by the mouth should make us skeptical of the complete analogy 

 between human disease and animal experiments, and again the notable susceptibility 

 of the central nervous system to this organism might equally well designate this 

 locality as the most vulnerable point. 



At all events it seems proved by the work of Dopter,^ Chvostek,'" Besredka, and 

 Enlows that mice and rabbits can be protected against the Shiga bacillus by adminis- 

 tering killed or living cultures per os. Besredka and Chvostek tested this protection 



' Mallory, T. B., and Marble, A.: ibid., 42, 465. 1925. 



^ Gay, F. P., Clark, A. R., and Linton, R. W.: Arch. Path. &- Lab. Med., i, 857. 1926, 



3 Bass, F.: Ztschr.f. Immiinildtsforsch. u. e.Kper. Therap., 43, 269. 1925. 



^ Nakahara, W.: J. E.xper. Mei., 42, 201. 1925. 



5 Merklen, P., and Wolf, M.: Presse med., 35, 145. 1927. 



6 Bloom, W.: Arch. Path, b' Lab. Med., 3, 608. 1927. 



' Goldzieher, M. A., and Peck, S. M.: Arch. Path, b' Lab. Med., 3, 629. 1927. 

 * Willis, H. S.: Am. Rev. Tiilcrc, 11, 437. 1925. 

 ' Dopter, C: Ann. deVInst. Pasteur, 23, 677. 1909. 

 '"Chvostek, F.: Wien. klin. Wchnschr., 21, 453. 1908. 



