On the Relation of Pathogenic to Septic Bac- 

 teria, as illustrated by Anthrax Cultivations. 



By 



E. ILlein, m.D., F.R.S., 



Joint Lecturer on General Anatomy and Physiology in the Medical School 

 of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London.' 



The research, of which in the following report I propose to 

 give the first instalment, had for its object, first, to investigate 

 whether and how far the Bacillus anthracis undergoes any 

 change, morphologically and physiologically, when cultivated 

 artificially; and secondly, whether ordinary bacteria of putre- 

 faction and septic fermentations can by artificial cultivations 

 be so modified as when introduced into the body of an animal 

 to be productive of disease, that is to say, whether it is possible 

 for an innocuous saprophyte to assume the properties of an 

 obnoxious pathogenic organism. 



It is well known that bacteria of ordinary putrefaction may 

 be introduced, either by ingestion with the food into the ali- 

 mentary canal, or by inoculation into the skin, the mucous 

 membranes, the subcutaneous or submucous tissue, or by direct 

 injection into the vascular system, without there being pro- 

 duced in the animal experimented upon any appreciable dis- 



' Eeprinted from the ' Reports of the Medical Officer of the Local Govern- 

 ment Board for 1881.' 



VOL. XXIll. XEW SKR. A 



