TUBERCULOSIS. 121 



These fluids contain : 1, the constituents of the nutritive 

 medium which have not been altered by the growth of the 

 germ, sucli as glycerin, albumins, albumoses, and peptones ; 

 2, the bacterial products, which may possibly belong to the 

 ptomaines, the bacterial albumins or albumoses aud bacterial 

 ferments ; and 3, any constituents of dead, broken-down 

 bacilli which may have passed into solution. To which of 

 these constituents the action of the fluid is due has not been 

 positively determined. However, from the similarity in 

 the action of this fluid with that of the bacterial products 

 of other germs, we seem justified in assuming that these 

 constitute the active principle. 



As early as 1888, Hammeeschlag found a poisonous 

 proteid among the products of the growth of this germ. 

 More recently he finds that as much as 27 per cent, of the 

 cellular substance of the bacillus tuberculosis is soluble in 

 alcohol and ether. In this extract there is, in addition to 

 fat and lecithin, a poison which induces in rabbits and 

 guinea-pigs convulsions followed by death. The part insol- 

 uble in alcohol and ether consists of cellulose and proteids. 

 Hammeeschlag has also prepared from cultures of this 

 bacillus a " toxalbumin " which, when injected subcuta- 

 neously in rabbits, causes an elevation of temperature of ! 

 from 1° to 2°, which continues for a day or longer. 



Zuelzer has reported the isolation of a poisonous pto- 

 maine from agar cultures of the bacillus tuberculosis. He 

 says that the injection of 1 centigramme or less of this 

 substance subcutaneously in rabbits or guinea-pigs causes, 

 after from three to five minutes, increased frequency of 

 respiration (to 180 per minute ?) and an elevation of tem- 

 perature of from 0.5° to 1°. He also reports marked pro- 

 trusio bulbi as a constant symptom ; the eyes become very 

 bright and the pupils are dilated. From two to three 

 centigrammes suffice to kill rabbits, death occurring in from 

 two to four days. The place of injection is reddened, and 

 hemorrhagic spots are formed in the mucous membrane of 

 the stomach and small intestines. In two instances from 

 15 to 20 cubic centimetres of clear fluid were found in the 

 peritoneal cavity. 



