toxin exerts little, if any, effect on phagocytic activity (6). 



Tunnicliff (7), in an investigation of the opsonic in- 

 dex during the leucopenia resulting from measles, found that 

 there was a slight decrease for streptococci, staphylococci, 

 and tubercle bacilli. She suggested that the decrease in 

 phagocytic activity against these organisms might "account for 

 the secondary infections" commonly associated with measles. 



Bartlett and Ozaki (8) in 1917 injected a dog with a 

 massive dose of B. coli and five hours later, when the animal 

 was in a moribund condition, inoculated it witn a quantity of 

 staphylococci. They observed no decrease in the opsonic index 

 for staphylococcus. This experiment was not repeated and the 

 authors themselves were not entirely convinced of the adequacy 

 of their controls. 



There is, of course, and extensive literature (luetchni- 

 koff (9); Fevre (11); Wright (10); Bull (12); Hektoen (13); 

 Opie (14), etc.) indicating a sharp and very considerable de- 

 cline, in some instances at least, in the phagocytic activity 

 of txhe body against the specific infecting organism in fatal 

 infections. There seems to have been no organized inquiry, 

 however, concerning the opsonic index for those bacteria which 

 take no part in the original infection but which later invade 

 the weakened body giving rise to the destructive phenomenon 

 known as terminal infection. 



Bacterial invasion of the wasted body immediately pre- 

 ceeding death is sometimes so complete and sudden that it has 



(3) 



