XVI. 



BACTERIA IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES NOT PROVED 

 TO BE DUE TO SPECIFIC MICROORGANISMS. 



IN the present chapter we shall give a brief account of the re- 

 searches which have been made relating to the presence of bacteria, 

 in a number of diseases, in which these researches have thus far 

 failed to settle in a definite manner the etiology of the diseases 

 named. For convenience of reference we shall arrange these diseases 

 in alphabetical order. 



ALOPECIA. 



Robinson (1888) claims to have found, in sections from the diseased skin 

 in a case of alopecia areata, micrococci having a diameter of about 0.8 ju, usu- 

 ally united in pairs and associated in zoogloea masses. They were located 

 for the most part in the lymph spaces of the central portion of the chorium. 

 They stained with the usual aniline colors and also by G-ram's method. No 

 culture or inoculation experiments were made. 



Kasauli (1889) obtained from the margins of the affected patches in alope- 

 cia areata a bacillus about two to three times as long as broad, and which 

 formed spores. It was attached to hairs withdrawn from the diseased 

 patches, and was easily cultivated in various media. 



Vaillard and Vincent (1890), in a form of alopecia resembling favus, ob- 

 tained by cultivation, from hairs pulled out from the diseased patches, a mi- 

 crococcus; this was also found in the hair follicles in stained sections. The 

 diameter of this micrococcus was about one ju ; it was easily stained with the 

 aniline colors and by Gram's method ; grew in nutrient gelatin, causing 

 liquefaction ; did not grow well upon potato ; was pathogenic for mice. 

 When applied to the surface of the body of guinea-pigs or rabbits, by rub- 

 bing, alopecia resulted similar to that in the cases from which the micrococ- 

 cus was first obtained. 



BERI-BERI. 



Lacerda (1887) claims to have demonstrated the presence of cocci, some- 

 times united in chains, in the blood and tissues of persons affected with beri- 

 beri, and also to have produced in rabbits, by inoculation with his cultures, 

 certain symptoms resembling those which characterize this disease. 



Pekefharing and Winkler (1887) have also obtained by cultivation, from 

 the blood of patients with beri-beri, various forms of bacteria, but princi- 

 pally cocci ; these are described as being usually associated in pairs or in ir- 

 regular groups, as forming a milk-white mass upon agar, and as liquefying 

 gelatin. According to the authors named, injection into rabbits of cultures 

 of this coccus gave rise to multiple nerve degeneration, such as is seen in 

 cases of beri-bei'i in man. 



Eykmann (1888) failed to obtain cultures from the blood of patients with 

 beri-beri, but demonstrated the presence of slender bacilli similar to those 



