I. THE PRESENCE OF TUBERCLE BACILLI IN THE CIRCULATING BLOOD 
IN CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL TUBERCULOSIS . 0 
By John F. Anderson, 
Passed Assistant Surgeon and Assistant Director Hygienic Laboratory, United States 
Public Health and Marine- Hospital Service , Washington. D. C. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Clinicians and laboratory workers have long sought for aids in 
the diagnosis of incipient cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and ob- 
scure infections with the tubercle bacillus in other parts of the body. 
It is frequently impossible in the early stages of phthisis to find the 
bacilli in the sputum and often the physical signs are not sufficiently 
definite to warrant a positive diagnosis, and an early diagnosis means 
a probable good prognosis. 
The various tuberculin reactions in adults are not always con- 
clusive. So that any method that would enable us to make an early 
and positive diagnosis in a large percentage of cases would be of 
almost untold value to the clinician, health officer, and patient. 
A recent paper by Rosenberger, 6 in which he reports the finding 
of tubercle bacilli in the blood of all cases examined, has excited 
much interest. If Rosenberger’ s claims are substantiated, they will 
be of great value in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. His statements 
were based largely upon finding in the blood bacilli possessing the 
morphological and tinctorial properties of the tubercle bacillus. 
The method employed b} r him was to draw about 5 c. c. of blood 
from a vein in the arm and at once to mix it with an equal quantity 
of 2 per cent sodium citrate solution in normal salt solution. The 
mixture was well shaken and placed in the refrigerator for twenty- 
four hours, when smears were made from the sediment. The smears 
were then dried with moderate heat, placed in distilled water until 
complete laking of the blood, dried, fixed in a Bunsen flame and 
stained by the usual technic for tubercle bacilli. In a later paper 
he states that he used Pappenheim’s solution as a decolorizer and 
counter stain. 
° Manuscript submitted for publication July 8, 1909. 
6 Rosenberger, Randle C.: The presence of tubercle bacilli in the circulating blood 
in tuberculosis. Am. Journ. Med. Sci., vol. 137, No. 2, 1909, p. 267. 
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