234 GONORRHCEA, SOFT SORE, SYPHILIS 



found that the virus from a macaque monkey produces a less 

 severe disease in the chimpanzee than the virus from the human 

 subject, inasmuch as secondary lesions do not follow ; the virus 

 would thus appear to have undergone a certain amount of 

 attenuation in the tissues of that monkey. Recently corneal 

 ulcers in rabbits have been produced by Bertarelli and by Hoff- 

 mann by inoculation with syphilitic material ; they appear after 

 a long period of incubation, and the spirochaBte can be demon- 

 strated in the lesions. The effects of injecting emulsions of 

 tertiary lesions or of serum from syphilitic patients, at the time 

 of inoculation with the virus, appear to be practically nil ; 

 so also the employment of the virus rendered inactive by heating 

 has apparently no influence in acting as a vaccine. There is 

 some evidence that the serum from a patient suffering from the 

 disease when mixed with the virus before inoculation modifies 

 the disease to a certain extent, but further evidence on this 

 point is necessary. As mentioned above, the spirochsete pallida 

 has been found in the lesions in monkeys, Metchnikoff and 

 Roux obtaining positive results in more than 75 per cent of the 

 cases, and it is to be noted that here also the organism has been 

 found deep in the substance of the papules, unaccompanied by 

 any other organisms. Hoffmann failed to find any spirochsetes 

 in monkeys which had not been inoculated with syphilitic 

 material. This observer produced a lesion on the upper eyelid 

 of a macacus by inoculation with the blood of a man who had 

 suffered from the disease for six months, and a papule appeared 

 which contained spirochaetes. This result is in conformity with 

 that given by microscopic examination, and shows that the 

 organism is sometimes present in the circulating blood in severe 

 cases of the disease, and that the blood is accordingly infective. 

 Castellani has described in yaws or frambcesia the occurrence 

 of a spirochsete closely resembling the spirochsete pallida in 

 appearance, and to this organism he has given the name spiro- 

 chcete pertenuis. He has found it not only in the skin lesions 

 but also in the spleen and lymphatic glands of patients suffering 

 from the disease. He has produced the disease in monkeys by 

 direct inoculation and has found the spirochsete in the resulting 

 lesions. He finds that the immunity reactions of the two organ- 

 isms spirochaete pallida and spirochsete pertenuis are quite 

 distinct ; hence we have probably to deal with two distinct species. 



