74 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[April, 



us of what it consists. He had well-grounded reasons for this. Fi- 

 nally he tells us that it is a glycerine extract of tubercle-bacilli (aus 

 den reinculturen der tuberkel bacillen) ; besides this the lymph contains 

 (einegawisse menge von mineral salsen, farbende substansen und an- 

 dere unbekannte extractivstofie) a natural product of the animal or- 

 ganism ; one fact alone we know with certaint}', that this remedy can- 

 not be manufactured nor produced in any chemical laboratory. We 

 suspected it to be prepared from the diminutive bacilli, which are com- 

 pelled to reveal themselves to the great investigator. Until now the 

 world has known but little of this remedy, only that it consists of a 

 brownish, clear fluid which upon the animal organism produces won- 

 derful eflfects. Through the stomach the fluid will not act at all. It 

















Fig. I. — A Pure Culture of Tuberculous Bacilli (600 Dia.) 



must'be injected under the skin, and thus after it has mingled with the 

 blood it affects the whole organism. The action varies according as 

 the patient is sufl^ering from tuberculosis or not. 



Upon persons who are free from tubercle-bacilli, even though suffer- 

 ing from other diseases, the efl^ectof the fluid is slighter. The symptoms 

 6f a healthy person after an injection of 0.25 ccm. Koch himself has 

 experienced after an injection in the arm, and he describes the reaction 

 as follows : 



A few hours after the injection he felt a drawing or twinging sensa- 

 tion in his limbs, lassitude, an inclination to cough, and difficulty in 

 breathing. In the fifth hour severe chills came on, nausea, vomiting, 

 and an elevation in the temperature to 39.6 c. (102 F^ihr.) At the ex- 

 piration of twelve hours these symptoms gradually passed away, and 

 only a heaviness of the limbs and lassitude continued for a few. days. 



