LESS COMMON PYOGENIC ORGANISMS 369 



accord with the earlier ideas upon the dependence of all 

 forms of suppuration on invasion by the pyogenic cocci. 

 There is an abundance of evidence to justify the opinion 

 that a number of organisms not commonly classed as pyo- 

 genic may, under certain circumstances, assume this property 

 or may, in fact, have pus formation as one of the common 

 accompaniments of their pathogenic activities. For example : 



The bacillus of typhoid fever has been found in pure 

 culture in osteomyelitis of the ribs, in acute purulent otitis 

 media, in abscess of the soft parts, in the pus of empyema, 

 and in localized fibrino-peritonitis, either during its course or 

 as a sequel of typhoid fever. 



Bacillus coli communis has been found in pure culture in 

 acute peritonitis, in liver-abscess, in purulent inflammation 

 of the gall-bladder and ducts, and in appendicitis. Welch 1 

 found it in pure culture in fifteen different inflammatory 

 conditions. 



Micrococcus lanceolatus (pneumococcus) has been found 

 alone in abscess of the soft parts, in purulent infiltration of 

 the tissues about a fracture, in purulent cerebrospinal 

 meningitis, in suppurative synovitis, in acute pericarditis, 

 and in acute inflammation of the middle ear. 



Organisms simulating bacterium diphtheriticum are fre- 

 quently encountered in large numbers in the pus of superfi- 

 cial wounds, and especially in ulcerations of the skin and 

 mucous membranes. 



Moreover, many of the less common organisms have been 

 detected in pure cultures in inflammatory conditions with 

 which they were not previously thought to be concerned, 

 and to which they are not usually related etiologically. 



1 Conditions Underlying the Infection of Wounds, American Journal of 

 the Medical Sciences, November, 1891, 

 24 



