DISEASES OF MUCOUS MEMBRANES 71 



lesions. Some workers believe that some or all of these afflictions 

 are due to different species of spirochsetes and bacteria, but the 

 fact that both organisms are found together in all these diseases, 

 and that they show only such slight differences from the organ- 

 isms in the mouth as would be expected under altered conditions, 

 makes it seem quite possible that Spirochceta buccalis and its con- 

 stant companion, a cigar-shaped bacterium, are the causes of 

 all of them. The conditions which seem to favor the growth and 

 disease-producing propensities of these organisms are heat, 

 moisture, filth and absence of air. Wherever these conditions 

 prevail, and these ordinarily harmless organisms can get a foot- 

 hold, sores and ulceration are likely to result, accompanied by 

 more or less fever and digestive disturbance due to absorption 

 of poisonous substances from the decaying tissues. 



The treatment of these affections must vary with their location. 

 For the sores on the tonsils or mouth cavity in Vincent's angina or 

 noma either salvarsan or silver nitrate is effective. It should be 

 daubed on the injured tissue with a piece of cotton. The silver 

 nitrate is less dangerous than salvarsan and equally effective for 

 these superficial ulcers. Treatment of the infected parts with 

 a two per cent solution of silver nitrate for a few days results in 

 a rapid healing. In case of balanitis, ordinary cleanliness and 

 exposure to air is sufficient to cause a spontaneous healing in 

 four or five days. Washing with hydrogen peroxide, which 

 liberates oxygen in the presence of organic matter, is very de- 

 structive to such organisms as these, which thrive best in the 

 absence of air. 



In the Sudan region of Africa, and also in Colombia, South 

 America, there is found a certain type of bronchitis, marked by 

 fever and often by hemorrhages along the respiratory tubes, 

 which is accompanied by the spirochsete, Sp. hronchialis. This 

 parasite has very slender pointed ends, and averages eight to 

 nine tJ, (^^Vtr of an inch) in length, but its most marked charac- 

 teristic is its variability. These spirochetes reproduce by the 

 peculiai^ method of " granule shedding," breaking up into tiny 

 round bodies which later develop into new spirochsetes. It is 

 probable that these little particles of living matter can resist 

 drying up in air, especially in humid atmospheres, and may there- 

 fore be transmitted with dust or with little droplets of moisture 

 propelled by coughing. 



