INTRODUCTION. 23 



condition to stand in direct ratio to tlie numljer of spher- 

 ical bacteria present in the wound. He obsen-ed 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 18 70-' 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 oi^ns 

 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, Cla^en, Letzerich, Klebs, 

 and Eberth the constant presence of bacteria in the 

 diphtheritic deposits at times seen on open wounds was 

 established. 



