324 



Suppuration 



hovj) ; that acidity of the nutrient media hinders its formation, and 

 that it is intimately associated with the bodies of the streptococci 

 by which it is produced, so that in the sediment obtained by filtra- 

 tion or by centrifugation there is nearly one thousand times as 

 much as in the filtered fluid culture. The streptokolysin is not 

 destroyed by the death of the bacteria. Antistreptokolysin is pres- 

 ent in antistreptococcus serum. 



Varieties and Types of Streptococci.— The discussion of the meta- 

 bolic products of the streptococcus brings up the subject of the 

 unity or plurahty varieties, which has not yet been settled. Scho- 

 telius* thought that definite varieties could be differentiated through 

 the hemolytic test and described i. Streptococcus longus sur hemo- 

 lyticus, and 2. Streptococcus metior sur viridans. The former was 

 hemolytic, the latter not. Gordonf believed that it was better ac- 

 complished through attention to the fermenting powers of the organ- 

 ism. His results were carefully investigated by Andrewes and 

 Horder,t who give us the following tabulation. 



Endeavors by Buerger§ to improve upon this plan were not con- 

 clusive, and attempts by Kinsella and Swift|| to make type separa- 

 tions by complement-fixation tests have failed. 



Toxic Products. — The toxic products of the streptococcus are 

 not well known. Cultures from different sources vary greatly in 

 the effects produced by hypodermic or intravenous injection after 

 filtration through porcelain. Killed cultures produce a much more 

 marked effect than filtered ones, so that the important product 

 must be an endotoxin. 



Simon** found that the toxic quahty of the bodies of strepto- 



* Munchen med. Wochenschrift, 1903, No. 21 and 22. 

 t Report of the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board, 1903-4; 

 Lancet, London, 1905, Nov. 11, p. 1400.' 



tLancet, Lond., 1906, 11, pp. 708, 775, 852. 

 §"Jour. of Exp. Med.," 1907, ix, p. 428. 

 II "Jour, of Exp. Med.," 1917, xxi, p. 877. 

 ** "Centralbl. f. Bakt.," Dec. i8, 1903, xxxv, No. 3, p. 308. 



