VINCENT'S ANGINA 133 



tion occurs, with fall of temperature, peritonitis, diar- 

 rhea, and in some cases hemorrhage in organs or body 

 cavities. 



Dysentery Antiserum. Nevertheless, animals, notably 

 rabbits and horses, have been made to withstand 

 large doses by preparation with graded amounts. 

 They develop sera containing anti-substances to both 

 the endo- and extracellular dysentery toxins. This 

 serum has been used therapeutically in the treatment 

 of dysentery. Thus passive immunity can be secured, 

 but so far no great success has met attempts to raise 

 the resistance of human beings to dysentery by 

 injecting dead or attenuated bacilli; no active immunity 

 has been achieved. It may be well to add that in 

 producing the serum from animals to inject into 

 human beings, several varieties of the bacillus are 

 used, since dysentery may be caused by several 

 varieties. Thus an antiserum potent against more 

 than one type of infection is obtained, a so-called 

 polyvalent antiserum. 



VINCENT'S ANGINA 



Vincent's angina is a very important inflammatory 

 disease of the tonsils and pharynx, sometimes simu- 

 lating diphtheria in that a false membrane is also 

 characteristic of the disease. The causative bacteria 

 are spirilla and fusiform rods, probably two stages of 

 development of the same organism, since it is believed 

 that the former develop from the latter. The earlier 

 stage is the time when the pseudomembrane appears, 

 but this soon gives place to punched-out ulcerations. 



