THE COLON BACILLUS 105 



Rarely they enter the blood-stream and produce a septicemic condition similar 

 to typhoid fever and with similar sequelae. Colon bacillus infections may not 

 all come from within. This organism can, to a certain degree, produce pus. 



Foodstuffs contaminated with colon bacilli are sometimes fermented and 

 split into simpler compounds, some of which are highly poisonous. 



When injected into the peritoneal cavity of a guinea-pig or rabbit, virulent 

 colon bacilli cause peritonitis, septice'mia and death. 



Diagnosis. Isolation and identification of the colon bacillus, and differentia- 

 tion from the typhoid and paratyphoid bacilli will be described in a chapter de- 

 voted entirely to such procedures. 



