43 



appearances known as septicaemia is by no means re- 

 stricted to putrid infection. In the researches as to the 

 nature of blood coagulation, instituted by Schmidt, of 

 Dorpat, and his pupils, it was noticed incidentally that 

 the introduction or production in the blood of fibrin-fer- 

 ment in considerable quantity produces effects identical 

 with those of putrid infection septicaemia. In this case 

 the result is of course attributable to coagulation of the 

 blood. Similar phenomena were observed by Kohler, 

 Angerer, Naunyn, and Francken, to follow intra-venous 

 injection of fresh blood-serum (containing therefore both 

 fibrinoplastin and ferment) , of haemoglobin solution 

 (which is known to favor the formation of fibrin-ferment 

 in the blood) ; of sulphuric ether (which sets free haemo- 

 globin and hence indirectly fibrin-ferment). Injected in 

 large quantities, these substances caused immediate death 

 by instant coagulation of the blood in the heart and large 

 arteries ; after smaller quantities the animals survived 

 hours or days, and exhibited the usual symptoms of septi- 

 caemia ; their blood contained free fibrin- ferment, while 

 that of healthy animals does not. Finally Edelberg, 

 working under Schmidt's direction, established clearly 

 that the injection of fibrin-ferment alone, isolated from 

 other ingredients of blood, can induce the same phe- 

 nomena. 



In a series of experiments communicated to the Con- 

 gress of German Surgeons, in 1882, Bergmann observed 

 the clinical and anatomical features of septicaemia fever, 

 swelling of spleen and lymph-glands, gastro-intestinal 

 inflammation, cardiac weakness, ecchymoses in mucous 

 and serous membranes after the injection of the physi- 

 ological ferments, pepsin and trypsin. in small doses ; 

 large quantities induced, like fibrin-ferment, immediate 

 death by coagulation of blood in the larger vessels. 



Raynaud and Lannelongue inoculated rabbits with 

 saliva from a child dead of rabies, and induced thereby an 

 infectious disease, terminating fatally in forty-eight hours 

 or less. Pasteur found in the blood of these animals a 

 bacterium which he regarded as the cause of the disease. 



