350 Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



CURRENT BACTERIOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 



H. H. Waite, 

 University of Michigan. 



Separates of papers and books on bacteriology should be sent for review- 

 to H. H. Waite, 710 East Catherine street, 

 Ann Arbor, Michigan. 



Opitz, E. Beitrage zur Frage der Durchgang- The apparently positive results obtained 

 igkeit von Darm und Nieren fiir Bakterien, by numerous investigators along this 

 Zeitschft. f. Hyg. 29: 505-552, 1S9S. jj^^^ ^j^^ ^^^j^^^ believes, are due to 



faulty technique, failure to make a histological examination, and delay in making 

 cultures after the death of the animals used for experimentation. To obtain 

 data as to whether bacteria invade other parts of the body through penetration 

 of the intestinal wall, rabbits were used for experimentation. Solutions of 

 sodium arsenite, tartrate of antimony and cantharidin were used to produce death, 

 which resulted in from three and a half hours to five days. Plate cultures were 

 made in gelatin and agar from the kidney, liver, bile, heart, blood, spleen, 

 mesenteric glands, and ascitic fluid. Cultures made from the spleen, bile, liver, 

 and blood remained practically germ free, while cultures from the mesenteric 

 glands, kidney, and urine contained many colonies of the bacillus coli communis. 

 The bacteria found in the kidney, urine, and mesenteric glands cannot be 

 explained through transportation by the blood current, as the spleen remained 

 germ free. The explanation of their appearance is through direct penetration of 

 the intestinal walls, and, as some of the animals were not examined for some 

 hours after death, the invasion was probably post mortem. 



In order to ascertain whether bacteria circulating in the blood penetrate the 

 kidney epithelium, dogs were used and the urine excreted by them was examined. 

 Filtered and unfiltered suspensions of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic 

 bacteria were introduced into the carotid artery and the jugular vein. Colonies 

 were obtained from the urine in great numbers when voided shortly after the 

 introduction of the suspensions. Histological preparations of the kidney showed 

 extensive hyperemia of the glomeruli, and hence the appearance of bacteria in 

 the urine was probably due to pathological changes. 



The author sums up the results of his work as follows : The normal intes- 

 tinal wall is impenetrable for intestinal bacteria. A passage of bacteria into the 

 chyle does not take place during digestion. Slight alterations of the intestinal 

 wall cannot remove its protective power. Severe mechanical and chemical 

 lesions only rarely lead to an invasion of the circulation by bacteria. An agonal 

 penetration of germs in the circulation is, at least through the intestinal wall, 

 not proven. A physiological excretion of bacteria in the blood through the 

 kidneys does not take place. The frequently observed appearance of germs in 

 the urine shortly after injection into the circulation is due to chemical and 

 mechanical lesions of the vessel walls and kidney epithelium. h. h. w. 



