32 BOWMAN. 



well established on the fifteenth day. The treatment consisted of enemas of 

 1-2,000 solution of an organic acid peroxide and a very restricted diet, with 

 paregoric in sufficient quantity to control the pain. 



Cultures were made from the fresh specimen passed on the morning of the 

 third day of the disease. This was sent to the laboratory contained in a small 

 square of sterile gauze. 



Case II. — Infant L. 



Moderately severe, acute dysentery with recovery. — The patient was an un- 

 usually well-developed, strong, healthy boy 2 years old, weighing 9 pounds at birth 

 and 28 pounds at 1 year of age. Diarrhoea developed, following a period of 

 malaise lasting about twenty-four hours, with about one degree of fever. The 

 character of the bowel discharges rapidly changed to the typical bloody mucus 

 stools of acute dysentery and continued in this manner for about ten days with 

 from six to fifteen passages a day. Convalescence was slow, and complete recovery 

 did not take place until the end of about one and one-half months. At first the 

 prostration was considerable, temperature 38° to 39°. 5 C. with a moderate amount 

 of tenesmus and loss of appetite. 



The treatment consisted of the same bowel irrigations as in Case I together 

 with occasional doses of castor oil. Pain was controlled by the use of paragoric. 



Cultures were made from a fresh specimen of the stool obtained on the second 

 day of the disease. 



Case III. — Infant B. 



Mild, acute dysentery, with subsequent recurrence and recovery. — A healthy 

 infant 10 months old, breast fed from birth and weighing 22 pounds at the time 

 he was taken sick. Acute diarrhoea suddenly developed during the night and 

 within the next twenty-four hours the stools changed in character to those char- 

 acteristic of dysentery and so continued for eight or ten days, with from three 

 to ten bowel movements a day. Convalescence was quickly established, but a 

 recurrence similar to the first attack took place at the end of two weeks. Con- 

 valescence was again rapid and the child has since remained perfectly well. 

 There was no fever at any time, the tenesmus was not very great and the 

 quantity of blood passed was inconsiderable. There was no loss of appetite and 

 but little toxaemia. After the first two days, the bowel movements could be fairly 

 well controlled by simple irrigation of the colon. 



Cultures made on the first day of the disease. No pathogenic organism was 

 found and the bacillus to be described below as present in the two preceding cases 

 could not be isolated. 1 



Case IV.— Infant T. 



Severe, acute diarrhoea with recovery. — This infant was 5 months old, weighing 

 9 pounds at birth. It continued to thrive on breast milk during the first two 

 months. At this time it became necessary to change to artificial food because 

 of failure of the breast supply. From that time until the development of the 



1 Since these observations were made Case III, three months after recovery, 



developed an acute dysentery similar to the first attack. Bacillus "S" was 



isolated, being agglutinated by the specific rabbit serum in high dilutions 

 (1-20,000). 



