296 PATHOGENIC BACTERIA. 



etc. Whoever comes in contact with such materials is 

 in danger of infection. 



It is of great interest to notice the remarkable results 

 obtained by Biggs, Park, and Beebe in New York, where 

 the bacteriological examinations conducted in connection 

 with diphtheria show that the virulent bacilli may be 

 found in the throats of convalescents as long as five weeks 

 after the discharge of the membrane and the commence- 

 ment of recovery, and that they exist not only in the 

 throats of the patients themselves, but also in the throats 

 of their care-takers, who, while not themselves infected, 

 may be the means of conveying the disease from the 

 sick-room to the outer world. Even more extraordinary 

 are the observations of Hewlett and Nolen, 1 who found 

 the bacilli in the throats of patients seven, nine, and in 

 one case twenty-three iceeks after convalescence. The 

 importance of this observation must be apparent to all 

 readers, and serves as further evidence why most thor- 

 ough isolation should be practised in connection with 

 this dreadful disease. 



Park 2 found virulent diphtheria bacilli in about i per 

 cent, of the healthy throats examined in New York City. 

 Diphtheria was, however, prevalent in the city at the 

 time. Most of the persons in whose throats they existed 

 had been in direct contact with cases of diphtheria. Very 

 many of those whose throats contained the virulent bacilli 

 did not develop diphtheria. He concludes that the mem- 

 bers of a household in which a case of diphtheria exists 

 should be regarded as sources of danger, unless cultures 

 from their throats show the absence of diphtheria bacilli. 



In connection with the contagiousness of diphtheria 

 the recent experiments of Reyes are interesting. He 

 has demonstrated that in absolutely dried air distributed 

 diphtheria bacilli die in a few hours. Under ordinary 



1 Brit. M : / MT., Feb. i, 1896. 



5 Report on Bacteriological Investi-jntions and Diagnosis of Diphtheria, 

 I iv 4, 1893, to May 4, 1894, Scientific Bulletin No. /, Health Depart- 

 ment, City of New York. 



