INTRODUCTION. 27 



condition to stand in direct ratio to the number of spher- 

 ical bacteria present in the wound. He observed also 

 that as the organisms increased in number they could 

 often be found within the bodies of pus-corpuscles. 

 His studies of pyaemia led him to the important con- 

 clusion that in this condition micro-organisms were 

 always present in the blood. 



Of immense importance to the subject were the in- 

 vestigations of Klebs, made at the Military Hospital 

 at Carlsruhe in 1870-71. He not only saw, as others 

 before him had seen, that bacteria were present in dis- 

 eases following infection of wounds, but described the 

 manner in which the organisms had gained entrance 

 from the point of injury to the internal organs and 

 blood. He expressed the opinion that the spherical 

 and rod-shaped bodies which he saw in the secretions of 

 wounds were closely allied, and he gave to them the 

 designation " microsporon septicum." He believed that 

 the organisms gained access to the tissues round about 

 the point of injury both by the aid of the wandering 

 leucocytes and by being forced through the connec- 

 tive-tissue lymph-spaces by the mechanical pressure of 

 muscular contraction. 



On erysipelatous inflammations secondary to injury 

 important investigations were also being made, Wilde, 

 Orth, von Recklinghausen, Lukomsky, Billroth, Ehr- 

 lich, Fehleisen, and others agreeing that in these con- 

 ditions micro-organisms could always be detected in the 

 lymph-channels of the subcutaneous tissues ; and through 

 the work of Oertel, NassiloflF, Classen, Letzerich, Klebs, 

 and Eberth the constant presence of bacteria in the 

 diphtheritic deposits at times seen on open wounds was 

 established, 



