480 PA THOGENIC BA CTERIA . 



further clinical proof in certain exceptional cases dying 

 with the typical picture of typhoid, yet without char- 

 acteristic post-mortem lesions, the only confirmation of 

 the diagnosis being the discovery of the bacilli in the 

 spleen. 



PfeifFer and Kolle 1 found that the toxic substance resided 

 only in the bodies of the bacilli, and could not, like the 

 toxins of diphtheria and tetanus, be dissolved in the cul- 

 ture-medium. This was an obstacle to their immuniza- 

 tion-experiments as well as those of Loffler and Abel, 2 

 later to be described, for the only method of immuniz- 

 ing animals to large quantities of the bacilli was to make 

 massive agar-agar cultures, scrape the bacilli from the 

 surface, and distribute them through nutrient bouillon. 



When injected into guinea-pigs the typhotoxin of 

 Brieger is productive of increased secretion of saliva, in- 

 creased rapidity of respiration, diarrhea, and mydriasis, 

 and usually causes a fatal termination in from twenty- 

 four to forty-eight hours. 



As the discovery of the bacilli in the spleen, and espe- 

 cially the securing of a pure culture of the bacilli from 

 the spleen, are sometimes attended with considerable dif- 

 ficulty because of the dissemination of the colonies 

 throughout the organ, E. Frankel recommends that as 

 soon as the orgau is removed from the body it be wrapped 

 in cloths wet with a solution of bichlorid of mercury and 

 kept for three days in a warm room, in order that a con- 

 siderable and massive development of the bacilli may 

 take place. 



Typhoid fever is a disease which is communicable to 

 animals with difficulty. They are not affected by bacilli 

 in fecal matter or in pure culture mixed with the food, 

 and are not diseased by the injection into them of blood 

 from typhoid patients. Gaffky failed completely to pro- 

 duce any symptoms suggestive of typhoid fever in rab- 

 bits, guinea-pigs, white rats, mice, pigeons, chickens, 



1 Deutsche med. Wochenschrift, Nov. 12, 1896. 



J Centralbl.f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk., Jan. 23, 1 896, Bd. xix., No. 23, p. 51. 



