116 SEPTICAEMIA. 



diluted one hundred million times produced septicaemia in some 

 animals and a localized suppuration in others. The microbe ap- 

 peared in the blood as small rods usually arranged in pairs. 

 Pasteur's septicaemia of guinea-pigs was induced by injecting into 

 the peritoneal cavity a few drops of putrid blood pure, or mixed 

 with diluted ammonia. Serum, present in the abdominal cavities 

 of animals which had died of this disease, in quantities of 0.005 to 

 0.022 c.c. injected into the peritoneal cavity of a second animal 

 produced death from sepsis, while one-tenth of the quantity re- 

 quired to induce fatal sepsis proved harmless. The virulence of 

 this form of septicaemia is, therefore, less than that of Davaine's 

 rabbit septicaemia. The bacillus which was found in the serous 

 fluid resembled the bacillus of malignant oedema described by Koch. 

 The bacillus when cultivated upon a solid nutrient medium pro- 

 duced spores. In all of the experiments on animals with septic 

 microorganisms, a certain interval of time elapsed between the 

 inoculation and the first appearance of symptoms indicating the 

 presence of septicaemia. Another constant feature of artificial 

 septicaemia, produced by the introduction of septic blood, products 

 of the septic process, or cultivations from either of these, is that the 

 symptoms became more intense as the disease progressed ; both of 

 these facts are positive proofs that the active agents which caused 

 the septicaemia are reproduced in the body, and that the beginning 

 of the disease takes place as soon as a certain amount of virus has 

 been formed in the body, and the intensity of the symptoms is pro- 

 portionate to the quantity of infective material circulating in the 

 blood in other words, septicaemia caused by the introduction into 

 the organism of living septic germs is noted for its progressive 

 character, resembling, in this respect, perfect true septicaemia as we 

 observe it at the bedside ; differing thus entirely from another 

 clinical form of septicaemia which is caused by the introduction 

 into the circnlation of preformed toxic substances, and which has 

 been designated by Mathews Duncan as sapraemia. This form of 

 septicaemia I will illustrate by reference to the experiments which 

 have been made for the purpose of studying 



Septic Intoxication in Animals by the Introduction of Putrid 

 Substances. 



That putrid substances injected directly into the circulation pro- 

 duce symptoms of septic intoxication has been known for a long 

 time, and the extensive researches of Pauum threw additional light 

 on this subject. It was believed that putrid material Avhen intro- 

 duced into the organism induced a process of fermentation to which 

 were attributed the most constant post-mortem appearances found 



