PARTURIENT PARESIS. 
451 
There are numerous other objections which can be brought 
up against the doctrine of a toxaemia, with the uterus as the source 
of the poison. But I think that after the foregoing one is al- 
i ready warranted in holding that this hypothesis also is untena¬ 
ble. Its strongest evidence exists in the symptoms, which make 
it quite probable that the affection has its origin in the absorp¬ 
tion of a substance that acts as a poison in the blood. The point 
of origin of the toxin can, however, more readily be elsewhere 
than in the uterus. 
Finally, it may be held that the disease is due to the inva¬ 
sion of some form of micro-organism as yet unidentified. 
We constantly see that the most diverse maladies which 
formerly we could scarcely think of attributing to bacterial ori¬ 
gin, are proven now to be due to the invasion of such paiasites. 
; It need not follow either that if due to bacterial invasion the 
disease should be more frequent in certain herds. For several 
bacterial affections are known as, e. g.^ the pyelo-nephritis of 
cattle, the infectious nature of which can scarcely be doubted, 
and yet it occurs in sporadic cases only. 
Nocard* made culture experiments with fluids and tissues 
from various parts of the body in parturient paresis ; these all 
gave, however, with the exception of those from the uterus, 
negative results. In the uterus Nocard found various bacterial 
forms, especially staphylococci. But he did not show that they 
had any etiological relation whatever to milk fever ; according 
to Fignierest also the white and yellow staphylococci generally 
occur on the mucous membrane of the uterus of sound animals. 
The most probable way by which a milk-fever bacterium could 
invade the body during or immediately after birth would be 
through the womb. Against this view many of the arguments 
against the ptomaine theory are equally effective. 
The invasion of pathogenic bacteria through the uterus 
seems to be excluded by the course of the disease, namely, in 
consideration of the fact that numerous cases recover after a 
* Rectieil de Medecine Veterinaire, No. 1896. 
■\ Schweiz. Arch. f. Th. Bd. 38, S. 285. 
