TYPHOID FEVER. 265 



distinct protective effect upon guinea-pigs. His observa- 

 tion is in accordance with an earlier one in the same line 

 by Chantemesse and Widal. There is only the foreshad- 

 owing of a useful antitoxic substance in the work which 

 has already been done, but, judging from the success 

 met with in tetanus and diphtheria, we can build exalted 

 hopes of future success. 



Rumpf, Kraus, and Buswell report a number of cases 

 of typhoid which were favorably influenced by the intro- 

 duction hypodermically of small quantities of sterilized 

 cultures of Bacillus pyocyaneus, and have thus added 

 somewhat to our knowledge of antagonistic bacteria and 

 neutralizing toxins. These experiments are still too new 

 to deserve prolonged mention. 



One of the most important and practical points for the 

 physician to grasp in relation to the subject of typhoid 

 fever is the highly virulent character of the discharges 

 from the bowels. In every case the greatest care should 

 be taken for a proper disinfection of the feces, a rigid 

 attention to all the details of cleanliness in the sick- 

 room, and the careful sterilization of all articles which 

 are soiled by the patient. If country practitioners were 

 as careful in this particular as they should be, the disease 

 would be much less frequent in regions remote from the 

 filth and squalor of the large cities with their unmanage- 

 able slums, and the distribution of the bacilli to villages 

 and towns by watercourses polluted in their infancy 

 might be checked. 



