L** ^^ ^ 



- OF TH 



UNIVERSITY 



TOCULATION INTO LOWER ANIMALS. 319 



tures of the typhoid bacillus proved fatal in from twelve 

 to thirty-six hours. Autopsies upon these animals re- 

 vealed the presence of hemorrhagic enteritis, hypertrophy 

 of Peyer's patches, and enlargement of the spleen. The 

 bacilli were found in the blood, liver, and spleen. 



The importance of these observations in their bearing 

 upon the etiology of typhoid fever, if they are demon- 

 strated by subsequent experiment to be trustworthy, is 

 too obvious to necessitate emphasis, and it is greatly to 

 be desired that they may not be permitted to pass 

 unnoticed, but that others interested may find occasion 

 to institute experiments in the same direction with the 

 hope that some light may be shed upon the mooted 

 question concerning the influence of gaseous products 

 of decomposition upon the health of individuals, and 

 particularly upon the part played by them in diminish- 

 ing natural resistance to infection. 1 



Because of the variations in the morphology and cul- 

 tural peculiarities of this organism, and because of the 

 difficulty experienced in efforts to reproduce in lower 

 animals the conditions found in the human subject, 

 typhoid fever is bacteriologically one of the most un- 

 satisfactory of the infectious diseases. 



There are a number of other organisms which botani- 

 cally appear to be nearly related to the typhoid bacil- 

 lus, and which, with our present methods for studying 

 them, so closely simulate it, that the difficulty of identify- 

 ing this organism is sometimes very great. In addition 

 to this, the variability constantly seen in pure cultures 



1 See paper by the author : " The Effects of the Gaseous Products of Decom- 

 position upon the Health, aiid Resistance to Infection, of Certain Animals 

 that are Forced to Respire Them." Transactions of the Association of 

 American Physicians and Surgeons, 1895, vol. x. p. 16-44. 



