96 GENERAL AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



arterioles (Maragliano) followed by «a dilatation as the fever 

 disappears. The contraction of the peripheral vessels together 

 with the increased loss of water during pyrexia tends to pro- 

 duce a concentration of the blood. The anemia is usually masked 

 during the earlier stages by the concentration of the blood. As 

 the fever disappears the number of red corpuscles often drops 

 suddenly, the rapidity of the decrease in numbers being propor- 

 tional to the rapidity of the fall in temperature. The diminution 

 in the number of red corpuscles is due according to some investi- 

 gators to an actual destruction (Mobitz, Gerhardt, Hoppe-Seyler, 

 Salkowski), while others regard the diminution as due to unequal 

 distribution in the body (Breitenstein, Maragliano and others). 

 An increase in specific gravity was found by Stein during the 

 period of rise in temperature and a lowered specific gravity during 

 defervescence. Loss of albumins has been found during fever by 

 several observers. 



Concerning the alkalinity of the blood, observations are con- 

 flicting. Lowit concludes that the alkalescence of the blood may 

 be increased at one time and diminished at another period of an 

 infectious disease, that this property is not dependent in any 

 large measure upon the leucocytes, and that its significance is still 

 unexplained. The coagulability of the blood varies in different 

 stages, but has not been shown to be dependent on the tem- 

 perature. 



Simple (non-specific) infections. — For convenience the in- 

 fections not of a specific character are grouped together. The 

 group includes the wound infections, pleuritis, pericarditis, peri- 

 tonitis, various suppurations, septicemia and so on, due for the 

 most part to pyogenic bacteria, streptococci, micrococci, colon 

 bacilli and various bacteria not producing a specific infectious 

 disease. 



The changes in the blood differ with the character, extent and 

 stage of the inflammatory process. With serous exudation of 

 small extent, there is usually but little change found in the blood. 

 With serous inflammations of greater extent, pleuritis, pericarditis, 

 peritonitis, there is usually a moderate increase in the Dumber of 

 leucocytes during the febrile stage of the disease. With more 

 severe inflammation there is more pronounced leucocytosis. Yon 

 Limbeck found a leucocytosis of about 18,000-19,000 in a case of 



