GANGRENE. 109 



found leptothrix threads in gangrenous foci of the lung, and attrib- 

 uted to them the cause of the gangrene ; but their presence only 

 proved the possibility of the entrance of foreign bodies from the 

 mouth into the lungs, and, while they played no essential part in 

 the causation of the gangrene, the observation shows in what way 

 other and more deleterious microorganisms can enter the lungs with 

 the air through the bronchial tubes. 



Bonome (Deutsche med. Wochenschrift, 1886, No. 52) examined 

 nine cases of gangrene of the lungs in man, and found in three of 

 them staphylococcus pyogeues aureus alone ; in five staphylococcus 

 pyogenes alone, and in one both microbes together. He made a 

 number of experiments for the purpose of producing gangrene in 

 the lungs of rabbits, by injecting pus-microbes into the circulation, 

 but the results were negative if only the cultivations were used. He 

 obtained positive results by mixing with the cultivations particles 

 of the pith of elder, and injecting this mixture into the jugular 

 vein. The result was multiple small abscesses, and gangrene of 

 the lung. Injection of the pith fragments alone caused no effect. 

 The pith fragments in these experiments determined an intense 

 inflammation in the peri-bronchial tissues by causing alteration of 

 tissue, thus preparing the soil for the localization and pathogenic 

 action of the pus-microbes. The gangrene of the lung in man does 

 not follow in consequence of the croupous inflammation caused by 

 the pneumococcus, but its occurrence indicates that secondary infec- 

 tion has taken place with one or more varieties of pus-microbes, or 

 with saprophytes. 



In compound fractures of the limbs by direct violence, gangrene, 

 with or without emphysema, is a comparatively frequent complica- 

 tion when infection takes place, as the death of the tissues from the 

 trauma, and the nature of the wound, furnish the most favorable 

 conditions for the growth of pus-microbes and the bacilli of putre- 

 faction. 



