92 SUPPURATION. 



scribed, resulting in a furuncle; in others the regional infection 

 is more extensive, and a diffuse phlegrnonous inflammation is the 

 result; while in a third class, the local infection leads to general 

 invasion, and the patient dies of sepsis or pyaemia. The clinical 

 forms are noted for the progressive character of the infection, 

 which is due to the multiplication of microorganisms within the 

 body, and the production of ptoman'ies proportionate in amount to 

 the number of microbes present. Practically, the matter remains 

 the same as before it was known that ptomaines could cause sup- 

 puration, as pus-microbes must be introduced into the organism 

 before ptomaines can be produced, and for the practical surgeon it 

 is immaterial to know whether suppuration is the direct or indirect 

 result of the presence of pus-microbes. Scientifically, however, 

 this question has an important bearing, and has again awakened 

 interest in the question : 



Can Suppuration be Produced by Chemical Irritants ? 



Grawitz and de Bary produced by subcutaneous injections of 

 turpentine, variable results in different animals. Injections of tur- 

 pentine, with or without pus-microbes, produced inflammation, but 

 no suppuration in rabbits and guinea-pigs ; while in dogs the same 

 injections invariably caused suppuration. Crotou oil was found 

 to possess no influence in retarding the growth of pus-microbes. 

 Injection experiments demonstrated that this substance in small 

 quantities in the connective tissue of rabbits caused a serous or 

 fibrinous exudation, while larger doses acted as a caustic, and were 

 only occasionally followed by suppuration. Injections of a mix- 

 ture of pus-microbes and croton oil always caused suppuration. 

 They maintained that certain chemical substances, used in a definite 

 degree of concentration, injected into the subcutaneous tissue of 

 animals, prepared the tissues for the growth of pus-microbes. 



In a later series of experiments on the production of suppuration 

 Grawitz (" Beitrag zur Theorie der Eiterung," Virchow's Archiv, 

 B. cxvi. S. 116) obtained similar results, and still maintains that 

 aseptic turpentine, when introduced in sufficient quantity into the 

 tissues, causes suppuration. Inoculations of different nutrient media 

 with such pus showed that it was sterile. He maintains that tur- 

 pentine does not destroy pus-microbes. He also found that pus 

 produced by turpentine injections had a distinctive effect on pus- 

 microbes. This action of sterile pus he attributes not to the presence 

 of ptomaines but to the action of its albuminous constituents. His 

 experiments led also to the important observation that when gelatin 

 cultures are over-saturated with albumin or peptone, pus-microbes 

 will no longer grow upon them. 



