360 BACTERIA IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



ing of the second day after the injection. Death results 

 still more quickly when the blood from a rabbit recently 

 dead is injected. Not infrequently convulsions imme- 

 diately precede death. 



"The most marked pathological appearance is a diffuse 

 inflammatory oedema or cellulitis, extending in all direc- 

 tions from the point of injection, but especially to the 

 dependent portions of the body. Occasionally there is 

 a little pus near the puncture, but usually death occurs 

 before the cellulitis reaches the point of producing pus. 

 The subcutaneous connective tissue contains a quantity 

 of bloody serum, which possesses virulent properties, 

 and which contains a multitude of micrococci. There 

 is usually more or less inflammatory adhesion of the 

 integument to the subjacent tissues. The liver is some- 

 times dark colored and gorged with blood, but more 

 frequently is of a lighter color than normal, and contains 

 much fat. The spleen is either normal in appearance or 

 enlarged and dark colored. Changes in this organ are 

 more marked in those cases which are of the longest 

 duration. In certain cases dark-colored pigment has 

 been found in the spleen, resembling that which has 

 been supposed to be characteristic of malarial fever. 

 The blood is dark-colored, usually fluid, and there is a 

 tendency to agglutination of the red corpuscles. 



"The blood commonly contains an immense number of 

 micrococci, usually joined in pairs, and having a diam- 

 eter of about 0.5 /z. These are found in blood drawn 

 from superficial veins, from arteries, and from the cavi- 

 ties of the heart immediately after death, and in a few 

 cases their presence has been verified during life. Ob- 

 servations thus far made indicate, however, that it is 

 only during the last hours of life that these parasites 

 multiply in the circulating fluid, and in a certain pro- 

 portion of the cases a careful search has failed to reveal 



