THE BACTERIA IN SURGICAL LESIONS. AT 
first will much sooner develop Micrococcus, etc., 
and in far greater numbers (L. Julien). Now 
it is evident that this result is exactly applicable to 
the subject which occupies us, since the pus of 
~ wounds exposed to the air can be compared, in 
a certain measure, to the infusions of dust. 
As to the elements found in pus, they are 
equally variable. Most frequently the cocco-bac- 
teria present themselves in the form of little chains 
(strepto-bacteria). They rarely exhibit any move- 
ment. The appearance of bacteria upon the sur- 
face of wounds occurs at the end of sixteen to 
twenty-four hours. During the first hours follow- 
ing the division of the tissues, as is well known, 
the only exudation which appears is a yellowish- 
pink serum. In this inflammatory exudation, which 
always contains a considerable quantity of blood 
globules, the parasites do not at once appear. But, 
as I have said, at the end of a day or two Micrococct 
and Bacteria in chains, very small, and of average 
size, make their appearance. It seems, then, as 
has been remarked by G. Nepveu, to whom we 
owe an excellent work on “The dle of Inferior 
Organisms in Surgical Lesions,” that this first se- 
cretion of wounds is quite propitious for the de- 
velopment of bacteria; and, perhaps, we might be 
able to draw from this fact an argument in favor 
of their formation and their existence in the blood. 
Later, with free suppuration, the inferior organ- 
isms increase still more. It is, however, to be 
remarked that they are never very abundant upon 
the surface of healthy wounds. If we gather this 
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