RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS ON PYAEMIA. 423 
Fire those which are well known both to surgeons and phy¬ 
sicians. They have the additional less known character, that 
the pus they contain is full of bacteria. 
“ Pyaemia differs from tuberculosis in the rapidity of its 
progress, and in the obvious character of the anatomical 
changes of which it consists. Whereas by tuberculosis we 
are understood to mean anatomically the overgrowth of cells 
in certain tissues, which we designate lymphatic on account 
of their proved anatomical relation to the lymphatic system, 
the secondary inflammations of pyaemia result in the forma¬ 
tion of infective abscesses. 
“ Pyaemia resembles tuberculosis in its mode of origin. 
Both spring from inflammations; and, so far as relates to the 
anatomical characters of the lesions, both are inflammations. 
To both, therefore, the term secondary or infective inflamma¬ 
tion is applicable. 
“ So much for the disease itself. Let me now,” said Dr. 
Sanderson, “draw your attention to the nature of the poison. 
I wish to show (1) that every pysemic abscess contains a 
poison, which, wflien introduced either into the circulation or 
into a serous cavity, produces the symptoms of pyaemia; 
and (2) that w 7 e have this poison so entirely in our possession, 
and so far under control, that, beginning with an agent so 
mild in its action that it produces no marked symptoms, we 
can convert it into an agent of such intensity that it kills in 
two or three hours with the formidable symptoms seen in the 
case we have now before us. 
“This intensification is effected by a process which may 
be called cultivation. Dr. Klein made the important dis¬ 
covery that, if a pysemic liquid w r ere transferred to the peri¬ 
toneum of a guinea-pig and allowed to remain there for a 
couple of days, although it did not at first produce any intense 
symptoms in the animal itself, its toxic intensity increased in 
such a degree that, w r hen the transudation-liquid produced in 
this was injected into another animal, it had acquired the 
most deadly activity; and that all such extremely active 
liquids were crow T ded w ith bacteria of a particular character, 
the increased number of w 7 hich seemed to be in proportion to 
their toxic properties/'’ 
Dr. Sanderson then proceeded to exhibit a dog, into the 
abdominal cavity of which six drops of a pyaemic transuda¬ 
tion-liquid had been injected three hours before. The animal 
was in a state of profound collapse, accompanied wflth vomiting, 
purging, and cramps of the extremities. Shortly afterwards, 
the animal was killed and the abdominal cavity opened. The 
peritoneum contained liquid slightly stained with blood, 
xlv. 29 
