Diphtheria / by William P. Northrup ; measles, scarlatina, German measles / by Theodor von Jürgensen ; ed., with additions by William P. Northrup ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel.

  • Northrup, William P. (William Percy), 1851-
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Diphtheria / by William P. Northrup ; measles, scarlatina, German measles / by Theodor von Jürgensen ; ed., with additions by William P. Northrup ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    bacilli, found that the blood of patients injected with cultures of them caused agglutination of 23 cultures of typical diphtheria bacilli, as well as cultures of the original bacilli themselves. Lesieur * has obtained similar results, and confirms the statements of other observers, that the blood of animals injected with toxin alone does not possess the power of agglutination, as does that of blood taken from cases injected with the bacilli themselves. This subject is still in its infancy. The combined results of ob- servers so far show that agglutination is an inconstant characteristic of not only true diphtheria bacilli, but also of several of the class of so- called pseudodiphtheria, and that, furthermore, it has no relation to the presence or absence of virulence in a given bacillus. PATHOGENESIS. The diphtheria ])acillus is ])athogenic for guinea-pigs, rabbits, chickens, pigeons, small birds, and cats; also in a lesser degree for dogs, goats, cattle, and horses, l)ut not for rats and mice (Park). In these animals the disease is caused, as a rule, by the toxemia produced by the diphtheria bacilli, and not by the mechanical effects of the local lesion. Under the head of Pseudodiphtheria Bacilli will be discussed that class of diphtheria-like bacilli whose proper classification is still a matter of doubt. In describing pathogenesis, reference is made only to that class of bacilli which biologically and morphologically repre- sents the type of undoubted diphtheria bacilli. The virulence of the L()ffier bacilli varies greatly. Many writers have described abso- lutely non-virulent and non-toxic diphtheria bacilli, notably Brieger, Friinkel, Wright, and Cobbett. Lubowski found that the blood of patients harboring this variety of bacillus had decidedly antitoxic ])roperties against diphtheria inoculation. Roux and Yersin and others have succeeded not only in reducing to a minimum the viru- lence of certain bacilli, but also in restoring' the virulence of certain bacilli that had lost a greater part of it. They did not succeed, how- ever, in restoring the virulence to any bacillus which had been wholly deprived of it. Bomstein f has succeeded in doing this by introducing in the bodies of animals cultures of a virulent bacilli in celloidin sacs and repeating the operation a number of times. Between the virulent class of bacilli which are rapidly fatal for * “ Comptes Societe de Biologie,” Aug., 1901. t Russ. Arch. f. Path., Nov., 1900.