INFLAMMATIONS. 143 



experimenting failed to grow in the tissues of an animal. 

 Believing, from the results of previous experimentation, that 

 sepsin injected with the hacteria favored their development, 

 and having found the effects of sepsin similar to that of sul- 

 phate of atropia, he injected a small amount of that drug with 

 the organisms and found that, under these conditions, they 

 grew and produced sepsis. It is difficult to see how the sul- 

 phate of atropia could aid the bacteria otherwise than by 

 paralyzing the tissues temporarily, preventing their resistance 

 until the organisms had established themselves. A number 

 of other experiments have developed facts of a similar nature. 

 Gradle says, page 123, " We do not know whether putre- 

 factive bacteria exert any direct influence upon the exposed 

 tissues. Even if that be not the case, the products of decom- 

 position which they engender irritate the wound in an unmis- 

 takable manner. This is seen in the redness and sensitiveness 

 of the margins of the wounds. . ... These bacteria 

 are always overcome by the tissues." 



INFLAMMATIONS. 



The question as to whether we ever have the formation of 

 pus without the presence of micro-organisms, has been much 

 discussed, pro and con, of late years, by men standing high 

 in the medical profession. It has even been contended that 

 we never have inflammation without them, notwithstanding 

 the well-known effects of the blister and the mustard plaster. 

 Did it ever occur to any, that in the blister and the mustard 

 plaster, we are making use of an irritant that has been pre- 

 pared for us by the life force, and is, to say the least, closely 

 akin to the irritant that we would expect from the disease- 

 producing organisms? But have we not mineral irritants, 

 and may we not produce inflammation by their use? Is not 

 pus a result of inflammation ? I am not unmindful of the 

 fact that there are several theories explaining the production 



