82 SPIRILLUM CHOLERA 



sidering the intense desquamative enteritis which 

 is set up. The organism, however, scarcely ever 

 becomes generalised and is not found in the blood or 

 internal organs. 



That this organism is the cause of Asiatic cholera 

 can now be scarcely doubted both on account of its 

 constant presence in the disease and from the results 

 of inoculation in both animals and man. It can, 

 however, undoubtedly be present in the intestines 

 without causing cholera, and certain little-understood 

 conditions, e.g., presence of certain microbes, intes- 

 tinal irritants, disorders of digestion, &c., must 

 exist in order that the pathogenic effects may be 

 produced. 



Animals and man may be protected against sub- 

 cutaneous and intra-peritoneal inoculations of the 

 virulent microbe, but it is doubtful if immunity 

 can be secured against infection by the gastro- 

 intestinal tract. 



The disease appears to be toxic rather than 

 infective. 



The phenomena of agglutination similar to that 

 which occurs with Typhoid serum and producing 

 effects resembling those represented in Fig. 57, are 

 readily caused by the blood serum of immunised 

 animals, and the spirilla undergo rapid degeneration 



