FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
193 
SEPTICAEMIA. 
At a recent meeting of the Academie de Medecine, M. 
Bouley, Director of the Alfort Veterinary College, renewed 
the discussion on septicaemia by a reply to M. Chassaignac, 
who at the prior meeting had characterised the wonderful re¬ 
sults announced by M. Davaine as incredible and useless. “ I 
must avow frankly/' observed the speaker, “that I, too, was at 
first seized with profound astonishment at the marvels displayed 
before us, and my first sentiment was one of doubt and in¬ 
credulity, and it was in that sense I addressed the Academy.' 5 
In place of opposing mere sceptical assertions, however, M. 
Bouley requested M. Davaine to repeat the experiments in his 
presence, and from their results became convinced of the 
accuracy of his statements. Six w T atch-glasses were placed 
on a table. Into the first 100 drops of water were placed, and 
to these was added one drop of blood from a septicsemic 
rabbit; the whole was stirred so as to produce a solution of 
- 5 ^^. One drop of this was placed in the second glass con¬ 
taining 100 drops of water, and a dilution of - r5 - j L_ produced. 
In the third glass, a drop from the second gave a dilution of 
t.ooV.ooo- In *h e fourth glass, a drop of the third dilution 
added to the 100 drops of water produced a dilution of 
to"o,wo,wo■■ In the fifth glass, similarly treated, there was a 
dilution of to,oTo,too,oWj a nd in the sixth glass, a drop of 
the dilution gave a trillion th (t.o o o.oT o.ooo . ooo )- Matters 
being so disposed, four rabbits were inoculated respectively 
with the first, second, third, and fourth dilutions, a horse with 
the second, and a guinea-pig with the first. Next day all the 
rabbits were dead, the guinea-pig fell ill but recovered, and 
the horse sustained no harm. Since that time he has too fre¬ 
quently seen the efficacy of these minute dilutions to have any 
doubt of the fact whatever. Incomprehensible it may be, 
but of the fact there can be no doubt. M. Bouley commu¬ 
nicated an account of numerous experiments which he has 
performed, showing that dogs also can be killed by the 
septicaemic virus derived from the rabbit, and that such virus 
derived from the horse possesses much less virulence than 
that furnished by the rabbit .—Medical Times and Gazette. 
Facts and Observations. 
Physiology of Human Bile. — By v. Wittich 
(‘ Pfliiger's Archiv f. Physiologie/ vi, 181—184).—Von 
