512 
THOMPSON YATES LABORATORIES REPORT 
stool with mucous pieces ; film stained for ten minutes in somewhat diluted carbol 
fuchsin, large numbers of ' small bacillus,' but unstained ; staining prolonged overnight ; 
' small bacillus ' now stained and. present in large numbers. Besides faeces it was 
also seen in small numbers in a few specimens of black vomit ; in one case {post- 
mortem i 7) there were very large numbers in the duodenal contents ; the ileum, as in 
other cases, showing vast numbers of coliform and other faecal bacteria. In the 
contents of the colon, also, the ' small bacillus ' was met with in abundance. Whether 
from the nature of the balsam used or from the cloveoil, etc., which was put in the 
boxes to prevent destruction of the labels by insects, etc., the colour of all our 
mounted specimens faded out and diffused. Since my return I have tried to re-stain 
these specimens (prolonged carbol fuchsin and aniline gentian violet) but for some 
reason, apparently, the bacilli must have lost staining power ; I have not succeeded in 
rinding them in specimens which showed large numbers when they were first made. 
Further, it appeared suggestive that Sternberg had met with an identical organism 
in tissues. Referring to the examination of sections of various organs, he says 1 
'The result of this research has again been negative, so far as the general 
presence of any particular micro-organism in the material examined is concerned. 
But in one case (No. IV) I found in the kidney a minute bacillus which apparently 
invaded by preference the glomeruli. It was not found in the capillaries 
generally, but a certain number of foci were found, some small, as shown in Fig. 6, 
and involving only a portion of the glomerulus, others involving a whole glomerulus, 
and the tissues immediately surrounding it. The appearance was such as one would 
expect to see in a case in which solitary bacilli, carried in the first case by the blood 
current, had effected a lodgment and established a centre of infection in tissues already, 
perhaps, necrotic and through which the circulation had ceased. The latter supposition 
seems to be justified by the fact that there were comparatively few of these foci, 
whereas if they had been established while the circulation was still going on, we 
would expect to find numerous secondary foci and a certain number of bacilli in the 
neighbouring vessels. Moreover, there was no evidence of inflammatory reaction as 
a result of this invasion of the tissues by parasitic organisms. I am, therefore, of the 
opinion that this is some ordinary saprophyte which had effected a lodgment in the 
kidney, possibly during the last hours of life when the vital resistance of the tissues 
was slight, or when as a result of the blood stasis in the organ local necrosis had 
already occurred at certain points before death.' 2 (It may be noted that this autopsy 
was performed one and a half hours after death ; whether the interpretation given is 
the right one does not necessarily follow). ' It is quite probable that during the last 
hours of life a certain number of micro-organisms from the intestine succeed in passing 
through the enfeebled tissues into the interior of the capillaries and are carried away by 
I. Op «>., p. 138. 
2. The condition described is, perhajs, in accordance with the distribution of an anaerobe. 
