REACTIONS CAUSED IN THE ORGANISM 175 



doses used, do not appreciably modify the intestinal flora of 

 the patients. A decrease of one bacterial species or another 

 is sometimes observed in the stools after a fortnight's or a 

 month's treatment; but the same changes are observed in 

 normal non-treated persons; so that these passing decreases 

 cannot be attributed to the action of the treatment. 



We have never found a complete disappearance of any 

 bacterial species living normally in fecal matter; on the other 

 hand, we have found that certain pathogenic bacteria such 

 as the paratyphoids or certain strains of colon bacilli com- 

 pletely disappeared after treatment by injection or ingestion 

 of such dead bacteria. 



We have never observed any marked agglutination reaction 

 with any species of injected bacteria in the serum of treated 

 patients fifteen, thirty or sixty days after the end of the 

 treatment. The conclusion is therefore that the treatment, 

 as applied, did not cause the formation of " antibodies in 

 excess" in appreciable quantity. 



General Reactions. The first striking phenomenon after 

 the first, or the first few injections or ingestions of an auto- 

 genous or heterogeneous preparation, is the rapid change of 

 the patient's general condition. A direct action on the ner- 

 vous system is nearly always observed which is shown by 

 lassitude, a need for sleep, relaxation and rest, a general lull 

 which is in no wise disagreeable, which may last several hours, 

 rarely two or three days, and is usually followed by a long 

 period (several weeks or months) of surprising exhilaration. 

 The patient feels himself "being born again," he feels a sur- 

 prising need for physical and mental activity, and can under- 

 take without fatigue work, which a few days before would 

 have seemed beyond his strength. Sometimes the period of 

 lassitude is so short and slight, that the period of exhilaration 

 seems to appear all at once. In other, less frequent cases, 

 the first doses of the preparation are followed by headaches 

 which may last for several hours, by chills or by a slight rise 

 in temperature. Still more rarely, the symptoms of the dis- 

 ease are seen to increase slightly. Asthmatics may have a 

 more violent crisis, the itching in dermatoses increases, 

 psoriasis plaques become darker; but these aggravations 



