198 INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



its ability to make spores, ascribes a greater degree of 

 pathogenic action to the microorganism with which 

 he worked these bacteria also having been derived 

 from cases of surgical infection. Grassberger and 

 Schattenfroh, whose granulo-bacillus saccharo-butyricus 

 immobilis liquefaciens was derived from milk and is 

 regarded by Welch, Kamen, and others as identical 

 with B. aerogenes capsulatus, found it to be non-toxic 

 for guinea-pigs. Kamen, 1 although unable to obtain 

 powerful toxins on ordinary culture media, regards 

 B. aerogenes capsulatus as capable, by itself, of exciting 

 inflammatory purulent processes. It is certain that 

 there are various strains of B. aerogenes capsulatus as 

 regards pathogenicity and that the different results 

 obtained by different investigators with respect to that 

 feature are due to this fact. Cultures of B. aerogenes 

 capsulatus made by Mr. Ward from the faeces of a young 

 man with slight digestive derangement and from material 

 derived from a case of pernicious ansemia were injected 

 into the breast muscles of pigeons (according to a sug- 

 gestion from Dr. Flexner, who had found these animals 

 to be especially susceptible). The cultures set up a 

 localized necrotic inflammation with gas production in 

 the connective tissues. Death occurred, apparently 

 from toxaemia, within twenty-four hours. The applica- 

 tion of these facts to capsulatus infection of the intestine 

 is not now clear. It is certain that the pathogenicity 

 of B. aerogenes capsulatus is different for different 

 strains isolated from the human digestive tract. Thus 



1 "Zur Aetiologie der Gasphlegmone," Centralbl. /. Bakt., I 

 Abt., Orig., xxxv, pp. 554, 686, 1904. 



