54 SPIROCILETES. 



syphilitic patients which was agglutinated by their 

 serum, but this organism is not now supposed to have 

 any causal connection with the malady. 



8. It is usually said that the result of antisyphilitic 

 treatment is to cause the disappearance of the spiro- 

 chsetes; but Rille and Vocquerodt, and also Benda, 

 found that no apparent effect was produced by treat- 

 ment on the number of spirochaetes present. 



9. It is stated that whereas the syphilitic virus is 

 active when infective material is mixed with gly- 

 cerine, spirochaetes are destroyed by contact with this 

 reagent. 



After a review of all the evidence at present available 

 we can therefore only conclude that while there is a 

 considerable probability that the Spiroch&ta pallida 

 is the infective agent in syphilis, its position is not yet 

 established with absolute scientific certainty. 



The clinical phenomena of syphilis consist in (i) a 

 primary lesion at the site of inoculation, consisting in 

 an ulcer with a deeply indurated base; here the spiro- 

 chaete is found on the surface of the ulcer and in the fluid 

 that can be squeezed from its deeper layers, and it can 

 also be found by the silver-staining method lying in the 

 lymphatic spaces between the bundles of fibrous tissue. 

 Enlargement of lymphatic glands takes place in the re- 

 gion towards which the lymph from the ulcer drains, and 

 by puncture of these glands with a hypodermic syringe 

 the organism can usually be obtained in the fluid with- 

 drawn. (2 ) . The secondary stage is marked by constitu- 

 tional symptoms, such as fever and feeling of illness, 

 along with eruptions on the skin and often with super- 

 ficial ulceration of the throat (tonsils, fauces). In 

 this stage the spirochaetes may be found in the blood 

 and in any vesicular lesions which may develop, or in 

 the fluid obtained by blistering. (3). In a certain num- 



