g2 Infection 



Intoxication of all kinds' predisposes to infection. Platania* 

 found that such animals as frogs, pigeons, and dogs became sus- 

 ceptible to anthrax when under the infiUence of curare, chloral, 

 and alcohol. Leof found that white rats fed upon phloridzin : be- 

 came susceptible to anthrax. Wagner J found that pigeons become 

 susceptible to anthrax when under the influence of chloral. 

 Abbott§ found the resisting powers of rabbits against Streptococcus 

 pyogenes and Bacillus coli diminished by daily intoxication with 5 

 to 15 c.c. of alcohol introduced into the stomach through a tube. 

 Salant|| found that, alcohol was disadvantageous in combating the 

 infectious diseases because it diminished the glycogen content of the . 

 hver which CoUa** had found an important adjunct in supporting the 

 resisting power. 



It is a common clinical observation that excessive indulgence 

 in alcohol predisposes to certain infections, notably pne^monia, 

 and every surgeon knows the danger of pneumonia after anesthetiza- 

 tion with ether. 



Traumatic injury and mutilation of the body are not without 

 effect upon infection. The more extensive the damage done to 

 the tissues, the greater the danger of infection, and the more serious 

 the consequences of infection when it takes place. 



The mutilation of the body by the removal of certain organs is 

 of disputed importance. There is much literature upon the effect 

 of the spleen in overcoming infectious agents, but the experimental 

 evidence seems about equally divided as to whether an animal is more 

 or less susceptible after the removal of this organ than it was before. 



Morbid conditions in general predispose to infection. The fre- 

 quency with which diabetics suffer from furuncles, carbuncles, 

 and local gangrenous lesions of the skin; the increased susceptibiUty 

 of phthisics to bronchopneumonia of other than tuberculous origin; 

 the apparent predisposition of injured joints and pneumonic lungs 

 to tuberculosis; the extensive streptococcus invasions accompany- 

 ing scarlatina and variola; the presence of Bacillus icteroides and 

 various other organisms in the blood and tissues of yellow fever 

 patients, and the presence of Bacillus suipestifer in the bodies of 

 hogs suffering with hog cholera, all show the diminution in the gen- 

 eral resisting power of an individual already diseased. 



MIXED INFECTIONS 



The general prevalence of bacteria determines that few can 

 enter and infect the body of a host without the association of other 



*See Sternberg's "Immunity and Serum Therapy," p. 10; "Centralbl. f. 

 Bakt.," etc., Bd. vii, p. 405. 



t "Zeitschrift fur Hyg.," 1889, Bd. vii, p. 505. 

 t "Wratsch," 1890, 31,40. 

 § "Jour, of Exp. Med.," 1896, vol. i. No. 3. 

 I| "Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc," 1906, xlvii, 18, Nov. s, P. 1467. 

 ♦■'•"Archivltal. deBiologie,"xxw. .3. i' 4 / 



