PUTBEFACTION AND INFECTION. 103 



influence of muscular exercise on cadaveric rigidity and 

 putrefaction, showing how quickly they appear in ' over- 

 driven cattle and in animals hunted to death.' It is 

 known, indeed, to sportsmen that a shot hare will remain 

 soft and limp for a day, while a hunted one becomes 

 rigid in an hour or two. In September, 1851, two 

 sheep which liad been overdriven to reach a fair were 

 killed by the section of the carotid arteries. ' Putrefac- 

 tion,' says Dr. Brown-Sequard, ' was manifest before the 

 end of the day, or in less than eight hours after death.' * 

 The deportment of the hare operated upon by me may 

 therefore depend upon the circumstance of its being 

 brought down by the greyhound instead of the gun. It 

 will be interesting to inquire how far the peculiarity of 

 the animal tissue is transferred to the infusion. This is 

 a fit subject for further investigation. ^ 



Such observations inculcate caution in drawing in- 

 ferences from the deportment of any infusion as to the 

 distribution of germs in the air. The germs may be 

 demonstrably present while the infusion may not favour 

 their development. As to the quantity and quality of at- 

 mospheric germs, the hare and the pheasant might lead 

 to different conclusions. A passing reference to an im- 

 portant practical inference may be fitly introduced here. 

 In one of the earliest of the able series of researches 

 with which he has enriched medical science. Dr. Burdon 

 Sanderson exposed to the air 'Pasteur's solution,' which is 

 capable of vigorously developing and nourishing Bacteria 



' Croonian Lecture, Proc. Eoy. Soc. 1862, vol. xi. p. 210. 



2 Five-and-twenty flasks containing pheasant-infusion were 

 compared during the month of December with five-and-twenty 

 containing infusion of hare. Neither in the rapidity of Bacterial 

 development, nor in the readiness to support the growth of Peni- 

 eilliuvi, did the considerable diiferences between hare and pheasant 

 first observed repeat themselves. 



