PUS-MICROBES. 45 



mus," Berl. klin. Woch., 1884, No. 51) used in his experiments an 

 emulsion of a pure culture of osteomyelitis cocci which was injected 

 directly into the circulation. A few days after the injection the 

 microbes had disappeared al mostly completely from the circulation. 

 At this stage they could only be found within the interior of the 

 white blood -corpuscles and never free in the plasma of the blood. 

 After twenty-four hours they could be detected in almost every 

 organ of the body. In the liver they were most abundant, but, 

 almost without exception, only in the interior of white blood-cor- 

 puscles. In the lungs they were often so numerous as to obstruct 

 completely some of the capillary vessels ; when less abundant they 

 were in the interior of white blood- corpuscles which were aggre- 

 gated in groups. In the spleen and lymphatic glands they were 

 not numerous, but in the kidneys they were again more abundant, 

 especially in the glomeruli, and also in some of the loops of the 

 tubuli uriniferi. Later, they disappeared from all the organs with 

 the exception of the kidneys. In all probability they are not 

 destroyed in the organism, as they thrive in the lungs very well, as 

 has been shown by injections into the trachea, but they are con- 

 veyed along the bloodvessels to some excretory organ. In the 

 kidney localization takes place for several reasons. Embolic 

 obstruction is the most important factor. The anatomical structure 

 of the bloodvessels of the glomeruli explains their arrest in this 

 part of the kidney, as in the lungs and liver, on account of a more 

 free anastomosis of the bloodvessels, the cocci are more easily dis- 

 lodged. In the kidney, the growth of the embolic masses in the 

 vessels of the glomeruli can be easily followed through the several 

 stages. "But the process is limited to a few places, as many of the 

 masses are removed by the circulation in the same manner as in the 

 liver and lungs. Abscesses in different parts of the body following 

 injections of pus-microbes into the circulation are produced by 

 embolism. Suppuration is very likely to take place in the connec- 

 tive tissue, as here the circulation is comparatively slow and conse- 

 quently the removal of cocci attended with difficulties. The 

 microorganisms of osteomyelitis are eliminated through the kidney 

 the same as the microbes of other infective diseases, and conse- 

 quently localization is very likely to take place in this organ. Six 

 hours after injection large colonies of cocci could be seen in the 

 straight and convoluted tubules. Finally, it is well known that in 

 the living body localization of microbes takes place in the tissues 

 which are the seat of a trauma, and the influence of this exciting 

 cause has been abundantly demonstrated by different experimenters 

 who have produced acute osteomyelitis in animals infected with pus- 

 microbes, by producing fracture of a bone or contusion of the medul- 

 lary tissue. A number of experiments made, among others by 



