94 LOCALIZED INFECTIONS OF PUS NATURE 



milk or gelatin. On media containing blood they have 

 the property of dissolving the red coloring matter. 



They are killed in ten minutes when exposed to 

 52 C. (126 F.). When dried in blood or pus they 

 may live for a considerable time at room temperature, 

 but die quickly at body heat unless their food is 

 repeatedly renewed. They are killed by corrosive 

 sublimate, 1 to 1000; carbolic acid, 1 to 100; and 

 hydrogen peroxide, 1 to 100, in ten minutes if exposed 

 in water. Pus supplies a protective envelope, and the 

 germicide must be allowed to act longer. Streptococci 

 are very virulent for most lower animals and the same 

 lesions may be produced by artificial injection as arise 

 spontaneously in man. Streptococci produce a slight 

 amount of extracellular poison, but more arises from 

 the disintegration of the bacterial cells. The vaccine 

 treatment is not always successful. 



An antistreptococcus serum has been prepared by 

 injecting horses with a number of cultures in order to 

 call forth antibodies to all varieties. In all cases of 

 severe streptococcus infection this should be used and 

 good results have been reported from some quarters. 



To diagnosticate infections by the staphylococcus or 

 streptococcus we are obliged to make our technic 

 suit the individual case. If an abscess exist it is 

 sufficient to collect the pus. If a cellulitis or bone 

 disease is to be examined, it is necessary to go deeply 

 into the tissue and select the bloody material near 

 the healthier tissue. In septicemia or heart disease, 

 a blood culture is made. Both organisms grow with 

 ease upon ordinary culture media. 



