INTRODUCTION. 23 



'. 



condition to stand in direct ratio to the number of spher- 

 ical bacteria present in the wound. He observed also 

 that as the organisms increased in number they could 

 often be found within the bodies of pus corpuscles. 

 His studies of pyaemia led him to the important con- 

 clusion that in this condition micro-organisms were 

 always present in the blood. 



Of immense importance to the subject were the in- 

 vestigations of Klebs, made at the Military Hospital 

 at Carlsruhe in 1870-' 71. He not only saw, as others 

 before him had done, that bacteria were present in dis- 

 eases following upon the infection of wounds, but de- 

 scribed the manner in which the organisms had gained 

 entrance from the point of injury to the internal organs 

 and blood. His opinion was that the spherical and rod- 

 shaped bodies that he saw in the secretions of wounds 

 were closely allied, and gave to them the designation 

 " microsporon septicum." His opinion was that the 

 organisms gained access to the tissues round about the 

 point of injury both by the aid of the wandering leuco- 

 cytes and by being forced through the connective-tissue 

 lymph-spaces by the mechanical pressure of muscular 

 contraction. 



On erysipelatous inflammations secondary to injury 

 important investigations were also being made, Wilde, 

 Orth, Von Recklinghausen, Lukomsky, Billroth, Ehr- 

 lich, Fehleisen, and others agreeing that in these con- 

 ditions micro-organisms could always be detected in the 

 lymph-channels of the subcutaneous tissues; and through 

 the work of Oertel, Nassiloff, Classen, Letzerich, Klebs, 

 and Eberth the constant presence of bacteria in the 

 diphtheritic deposits at times seen on open wounds was 

 established. 



