548 
JAMES LAW. 
preparation and shipment of morbid products were fiirnished'to 
the former. As specimens are usually received they are too 
often in a condition which renders them absolutely useless for 
pathological purposes, or, failing this, they demand such an out¬ 
lay of time, labor and material in order to trace out the nature 
of each microbe present that it is prodigal in the last degree to 
attempt such a work. Many specimens reach the laboratory in 
a condition of advanced putrefaction, in which it is folly to 
search for the germ of a specific disease or the features of a 
definite lesion. Others are smeared with filth from outside the 
body of the animal and due to contamination by contact with 
knives, hands, skin, manure, earth, foul water, and other im¬ 
pure sources, so that, even in the absence of advanced sepsis, the 
multiplicity of bacteria present demands a long and exhaustive 
investigation before reliable results can be obtained. In other 
cases the ferment-laden contents of internal organs, such as the 
stomach or bowels, become mingled with the bacteria which 
were at first present in the diseased organs, which have been 
packed with them, rendering bacteriological work tedious and 
costly, even if possible at all. In still others the sender has 
taken precautions against the putrefaction of the product by 
steeping it in strong alcohol, carbolic acid solution or other an¬ 
tiseptic, and has thus effectually prevented any bacteriological 
cultures of the more delicate disease germs. It would be easy 
to add to this list of examples of how not to do it, but it will be 
more profitable to turn to methods by which the sender can 
place himself in harmony with the subsequent work of the bac¬ 
teriologist and pathologist. 
ist. Select a case in which the disease is fully developed 
and in active progress. At the outset many infectious diseases 
are strictly local affections, and the inatej^ies morbi can at this 
stage be found only in such local centre, and the internal organs 
which are the usual seats of affection are still germ free. 
Again, in the advanced stages of a purely contagious disease the 
microbe may be no longer present, while the structural changes 
caused by it and its products are still sufficiently well marked. 
