PLACENTAL TRANSMISSION. 61 



mitted to the embryo (Malvoz). Tuberculosis oc- 

 casionally, and syphilis very often, attack the pla- 

 centa in man. In a number of instances fetuses 

 have been born with the eruption of smallpox 

 derived from the mother and the transfer of ty- 

 phoid bacilli through the placenta has been ob- 

 served occasionally. Similar transmission in man 

 has been noted in relation to anthrax, pneumonia, 

 recurrent fever, and infections with the pyogenic 

 cocci. Abortions, due either to infection or intox- 

 ication, may occur during most of the acute fe- 

 brile infections. 



Contrary to the view expressed above, Baum- 

 garten, Birch-Hirschfeld, Lubarsch and many 

 others conceived that a pre-existing injury of the 

 placenta is not essential for transfer; that the 

 micro-organisms, especially when present in the 

 blood in considerable numbers, as in anthrax, may 

 "grow through" the placental vessels in the absence 

 of, and without causing, anatomical lesions. 



It is extremely probable that both views are cor- 

 rect, but perhaps in relation to different types of 

 micro-organisms. It has been demonstrated many 

 times, clinically and experimentally, that tubercle 

 bacilli will pass through the intestinal mucosa into 

 the adjacent lymphatics without causing lesions 

 of the mucosa, and, although the conditions are not 

 identical in the two structures (migration of wan- 

 dering cells through intestinal wall!), the occur- 

 rence in one suggests its possibility in the other. 

 However, the existence of the phenomenon is so 

 thoroughly established as to render the exact mech- 

 anism a more or less secondary matter. 



It is an important theory of Baumgarten's that Latent 



, , T , .,;. -, . , J . , T . - , , Hereditary 



tubercle bacilli which are acquired during fetal infection. 



