608 
W. R. COOPER. 
The experimental evidence of different authors, together 
with experiments made in the laboratory, throw a great amount 
of light on the etiology and development of septic diseases. 
The diseases :—septicaemia, pyaemia, osteomylitis and puer¬ 
peral fever, being caused by the germs staphylococcus pyog¬ 
enes, varieties aureus, albus and citreus, or the streptococcus 
pyogenes, are related in their being caused by one germ of 
the above classes, or two or more collectively. 
The study of pathology reveals the fact, that when any 
point within the animal economy assumes the condition from 
any cause whereby to foreign elements it presents a lessen¬ 
ed resistance, a local inflammation will be the result. If under 
such conditions that point of lessened resistance is exposed 
to the common pus germs, infection will be the result. If 
that point be only a place wherein the germ may enter the 
system, a local inflammation may be the result, or if the germ 
be introduced through that point directly into the general cir¬ 
culation a septic infection will ensue, ending in septicaemia. 
But when under any conditions the germ becomes lodged in 
the course of its passage through the vessels, it will then es¬ 
tablish a local process, which may be quite remote from the 
original point of inoculation. Also from the fact that all germs 
multiply very rapidly, there will probably be a local process 
at the seat of inoculation, and a general process of septic in¬ 
vasion as well. If the point of lessened resistance be the can¬ 
cellated structure of a bone, and general infection does not de¬ 
stroy the animal, osteomyelitis will be the result. While if 
the point of infection occurs in the uterus after parturition, 
when the resistance of that organ is much less than normal, 
an inflammatory process is established, which passing rapidly 
to other parts of the body, produces a septic infection with 
all the symptoms of septicaemia arising from any other point 
of inoculation, Owing to the condition in which the infec¬ 
tion takes place this is called puerperal fever. 
The difference in the character of growth and dissemina¬ 
tion of the staphylococcus pyogenes and streptococcus pyog¬ 
enes accounts for finding more frequently the streptococcus 
pyogenes in septicaemia than the staphylococcus pyogenes ; 
which appears mostly in local processes. 
