( 190 ) 

 PEOGKESS'OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE. 



Microzymes productive of Gangrene. — Some very curioTis and valu- 

 able experiments have been recently made by M. Chauveaii, and are 

 reported in tbe 'Medical Eecord' of May 28tli, by Dr. Burdon 

 Sanderson, F.R.S. At a recent meeting of tbe Biological Society of 

 Paris, M. Chauveau related tbe results of experimeuts made by bim 

 for tbe purpose of determining tbe influence of tbe microzymes con- 

 tained in certain purulent liquids in tbe production of gangrene. 

 Witb tbis view, be used a metbod of experiment suggested by an 

 operation commonly practised on rams in France as a substitute for 

 castration. Tbis operation is known as histournage. It consists in 

 reversing tbe testicle, and at tbe same time turning it round on its 

 axis so as to give a double twist to tbe spermatic cord, close to tbe 

 upper (in tbe reversed position tbe lower) border of tbe organ, wbich 

 is tben pusbed upwards underneath the integument of the groin, 

 where it remains. This operation, wbich is performed constantly by 

 persons who make an occupation of it, is never attended witb any bad 

 consequences to the animal, either local or general. Tbe envelopes of 

 tbe testis become attached by vascular adhesions to tbe surrounding 

 tissue ; but, as M. Chauveau has proved by careful injection, tbe 

 organ itself is completely cut off from tbe circulation. Tbe result is, 

 that it dies and is eventually absorbed. If tbe parts be examined 

 some time after the operation, tbe mass which represents the testicle 

 is never offensive, but possesses a slight odour of rancid oil, indicating 

 that it is undergoing fatty degeneration. 



If, however, the operation be performed in an animal previously 

 prepared by the injection of certain septic products into tbe circula- 

 tion, the effects are different. To prove this, M. Chauveau obtains 

 pus from a septic abscess in the horse, and deprives it of its corpuscles 

 by subsidence and decantation. Having tben ascertained by micro- 

 scopical examination that it contains no formed elements excepting 

 microzymes (rods and chains), he injects a quantity of the liquid, pre- 

 viously ascertained to be sufficient to produce a constitutional reaction 

 of about twenty-four hours' duration. If within this period the opera- 

 tion of histournage be performed, the organ becomes gangrenous, and 

 the surrounding tissues undergo intense and rapidly progressing in- 

 flammation. 



In this process, M. Chauveau believes that the microzymes are the 

 active agents ; and further, that the entrance of these organisms into 

 the testis is an essential condition to its undergoing the gangrenous, 

 i. e. putrefactive change. 



To prove tbe first of these propositions, he varied the experiments 

 by substituting for tbe septic purulent liquid first employed, tbe same 

 liquid after depriving it of almost all its microzymes by a suitable 

 method of filtration. It was then found that the injection produced 

 no constitutional disturbance, and that the local process went on just 

 as if no injection had taken place. To prove the second point, viz. 

 the necessity of actual penetration of the septic products into the part, 



