SPIRILLUM CHOLERA ASIATICS. 437 



because the acid in the gastric juice can kill the bacilli 

 introduced, Nicati and Rietsch tried in the first instance 

 to inject dejecta of cholera patients and pure cultivations 

 of comma bacilli directly into the duodenum of guinea- 

 pigs. In order to exclude the possible influence of the 

 bile they also tied the bile duct ; it was, however, soon 

 evident that this was an unnecessary precaution, for the 

 bile did not in any way interfere with the growth of the 

 comma bacilli, even when the half of the nutrient 

 substratum consisted of bile. 



On the other hand it has been made out as the result 

 of Koch's experiments that the result depends very much 

 on the mode in which the operation is carried out, and 

 on the greater or less irritation and maltreatment of 

 the intestine. If the abdominal cavity of guinea-pigs is 

 only opened to a small extent, and if the injections are 

 made into the nearest part of the small intestine instead 

 of into the deeply lying duodenum, so as to avoid dis- 

 turbance of the intestine, the guinea-pigs die only very 

 exceptionally (of six animals only one died). If, on the 

 other hand, the duodenum is drawn forward and fixed 

 for a considerable time with forceps ; if in short the 

 intestine is treated in such a manner that hypenemia 

 and alteration of the peristaltic action results, and if 

 then | to 1 drop of a pure cultivation of comma bacilli 

 is injected into the intestinal canal, by far the greater 

 number of the animals die after from 12 to 48 hours 

 with symptoms resembling those of cholera. After 

 death, which occurs with great depression of the body 

 temperature, hypenemic swelling of the mucous mem- 

 brane of the intestine is found, and the intestinal 

 contents are transformed into a very plentiful thin 

 mucous fluid, which contains enormous numbers of 

 comma bacilli almost in a pure cultivation. Other control 

 kinds of bacteria injected in a similar manner into the experiments, 

 intestine did not cause death in any case, even though 

 numerous control experiments were made, with the 

 exception of the organisms isolated by Finkler and 

 Prior, which caused three fatal results among ten guinea- 

 pigs treated in this way. The large number of negative 



