BACILLUS CO LI COM MUNIS. 395 



The bacterium coli seems to be the pathogenic agent 

 of the greater number of summer infantile diarrheas. 

 This organism is the more often associated with the 



o 



streptococcus pyogenes. 



The virulence, more considerable than in the intestine 

 of a healthy child, is almost always in direct relation to 

 the condition of the child at the time the culture is taken, 

 and does not appear to be proportional to the ulterior 

 gravity of the case. 



The mobility of the Bacterium coli is in general pro- 

 portional to its virulence. The jumping movement, 

 nevertheless, does not correspond to an exalted virulence 

 in comparison with the cases in which the mobility was 

 very considerable, without presenting these jumping 

 movements. 



The virulence of the Bacterium coli found in the 

 blood and other organs is identical with that of the Bac- 

 terium coli taken from the intestine of the same indi- 

 vidual. 



Lesage, 1 in studying the enteritis of infants, found that 

 in 40 out of 50 cases depending upon the Bacillus coli 

 the blood of the patient agglutinated the cultures ob- 

 tained, not only from his own stools, but from those of 

 all the other cases. From this uniformity of action Le- 

 sage very properly suggests that the colon bacilli in these 

 cases are all of the same species. 



The agglutinating reaction occurs only in the early 

 stages and acute forms of the disease. 



It is not difficult to immunize an animal against the 

 colon bacillus. Loffler and Abel immunized dogs by 

 progressively increased subcutaneous dosage of live bac- 

 teria, grown in solid culture and distributed through 

 water. The injections at first produced hard swellings. 

 The blood of the immunized animals possessed an active 

 bactericidal influence upon the colon bacteria. It was 

 not in the correct sense antitoxic. 



In intestinal diseases, such as typhoid, cholera, and 



1 Semaine Medicale, Oct. 20, 1897. 



