BACTERL\L INOCULATION 217 



avirulent or the dose small, recovery is to be expected : 

 on the other hand, although his vital resistance be 

 exceptionally good, a severe virulent infection will 

 probably result fatally. In any case it is obvious that 

 the size of the living bacterial inoculation is too large 

 — also more potent than the commonly employed 

 maximum therapeutic inoculation of dead bacteria — 

 for the welfare of the patient and he is temporarily 

 thrust into the so-called " negative phase." Thera- 

 peutically, therefore, bacterin therapy is indicated 

 only in chronic or possibly also subacute localized in- 

 fections. It is impossible to conceive by any stretch 

 of the imagination the rationale or at least the necessity 

 of their employment in acute or diffused infections 

 in which the human organism is already overloaded 

 with the products of a living antigen, or indeed its 

 defences actually demolished and its system over- 

 whelmed by the invading microbes; namely, such 

 states as bactersemia or septicaemia. Indeed, bacterial 

 inoculations in such conditions not only add insult to 

 injury but may be the determining forces for death 

 instead of prolonged recovery. Administered in acute 

 localized aiFections, as a rule unwisely perhaps, and 

 certainly so unless the indications of the opsonic index 

 are followed, either of two possible results may be ex- 

 pected. If the bodily resources are barely able to 

 cope with the situation, and the local infection be very 



