DYSENTERIES CAUSED BY BACTUklA 



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IV. THE ARTHROPODIC DYSENTERIES. 



We have already drawn attention to the fact that diarrhoeas and dysenteries 

 may be caused by the presence of species of the Chilopoda and Diplopoda, 

 and by the larvae of fiies in the intestine, but these are rare, and are sufficiently 

 described in Chapters XXVIII. and LXVII. 



B. DYSENTERIES CAUSED BY BACTERIA. 



The Bacillary Dysenteries. 



Synonyms* — French : Dysenterie Bacillaire. Italian : Dissenteria 

 Bacterica. German : Bacillenruhr. 



Definition. — The bacillary dysenteries are acute or chronic, 

 endemic or epidemic, specific intestinal disorders caused by several 

 varieties of bacteria, which are disseminated largely by means of 

 the faecal matter of dysentery carriers, as well as by that of persons 

 suffering from these disorders. From the sources of infection the 

 germs are conveyed to food or drink by the agency of flies, dust, sur- 

 face water, and by direct contact with any contaminated substance. 

 Infection usually takes place by the consumption of contaminated 

 food or drink, more rarely by direct contact with contaminated 

 substances. In the body the micro-organisms cause a specific 

 inflammation of the large, and occasionally also of the small, intes- 

 tine, which is characterized by diarrhoea, usually accompanied by 

 pain, tenesmus, and the passage of blood and mucus in the motions. 

 More rarely the bacilli cause a general septicaemia. 



History. — For years the theory of a bacterial causation for 

 dysentery found many supporters, among whom may be mentioned 

 Klebs, Prior, Ziegler, Hlava, Chantemesse, Widal, and Grigoriew, 

 all of whom attempted to isolate a specific organism. 



Maggiora, Laveran, Arnaud, and Escherich believed that the 

 Bacillus coli communis was the true cause, while Celli described as 

 the cause of the disease a bacillus fermenting glucose and clotting 

 milk, which he called the Bacillus coli dysentericus ; but according 

 to his more recent description some strains produce very little or 

 no gas in glucose media, and may not clot milk, and closely resemble 

 Flexner's bacillus. 



During an epidemic in the province of Oita, in Japan, Ogata 

 isolated a bacillus which liquefied gelatine, stained by Gram's 

 method, and produced intestinal ulcers in guinea-pigs and cats, a 

 discovery which was confirmed by Vivaldi of Padua, but not by 

 other observers. 



In the same year Calmette announced that the Bacillus pyo- 

 cyaneus was a cause of dysentery in Cochin China, an observation 

 since confirmed by Lartigan in the United States,-Adami in Canada, 

 and others, but not generally accepted. 



The elucidation of the aetiology of bacillary dysentery is due to 

 the investigations of Shiga in Japan and Kruse in Germany during 

 the years 1898-1900. They described as the cause of the malady 



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