186 INFLAMMATION AND SUPPURATION 



Suppurative and inflammatory conditions, associated with the 

 organisms of special diseases, will be described in the respective 

 chapters. 



Mode of Entrance and Spread. Many of the organisms of 

 suppuration have a wide distribution in nature, and many also 

 are present on the skin and mucous membranes of healthy 

 individuals. Staphylococci are commonly present on the skin, 



FIG. 59. Minute focus of commencing suppuration in brain case of acute 

 ulcerative endocarditis. In the centre a small haemorrhage ; to right 

 side dark masses of staphylococci ; zone of leucocytes at periphery. 

 Alum carmine and Gram's method, x 50. 



and also occur in the throat and other parts, and streptococci 

 can often be cultivated from the secretions of the mouth in 

 normal conditions. The pneumococcus of Fraenkel and the 

 pneumobacillus of Friedlander have also been found in the 

 mouth and in the nasal cavity, whilst the bacillus coli communis 

 is a normal inhabitant of the intestinal tract. The entrance of 

 these organisms into the deeper tissues when a surface lesion 

 occurs can be readily understood. Their action will, of course, 

 be favoured by any condition of depressed vitality. Though in 

 normal conditions the blood is bacterium-free, we must suppose 



