88 POISONOUS PROTEINS 



stmctive, the protein poison is set free, the 

 symptoms of disease appear, lesions more or 

 less destructive develop and life is placed in 

 jeopardy. 



The experienced clinician will easily under- 

 stand that in most infectious diseases the steps 

 in the evolution of the processes are not so 

 clearly defined as indicated in the above state- 

 ments. They are most typical in uncomplicated 

 cases of yellow fever, typhoid and typhus and 

 in smallpox, but even in these there often are 

 complicating factors. In yellow fever an at- 

 tempt is made to eliminate the poison into the 

 alimentary canal as is evidenced by black vomit. 

 In typhoid the poison in being excreted into the 

 intestine may lead to perforation. In most in- 

 fections, the bacterial growth and their disrup- 

 tion overlap. In one part of the body the bac- 

 teria continue to grow while in other parts they 

 are being destroyed. In pneumonia life may 

 be endangered by the abundance and extent of 

 the exudate, while in the crisis of this disease 

 autolysis probably plays an important role not 

 only in the destruction of the organisms, but in 

 the removal of the exudate. In many infections 

 lesions develop and impair the efficiency of the 

 body cells. Moreover in destructive lesions the 

 dead tissues of the body must be disposed of 



