Abstract
POCK-LYMPH.—The efficacy of pock-lymph has been attributed by several observers to the presence of small organisms of the nature of Micococcus. M. Hiller has recently studied this subject (Centralblatt für d. Med. Wiss.), and from 6,840 separate inoculations, he finds that the degree of activity of the lymph and the proportion of micrococci present do not correspond; on the one hand, the development of the organisms was often at its greatest when the action of the lymph was falling off, and on the other, lymph was often active, though no bacteria were perceptible in it. Fresh diluted lymph having been put in vertical tubes in a freezing mixture, and slowly thawed after freezing, the upper half gave on inoculation, 41.4 per cent. positive results, the lower half, 63.8 per cent. It appears from this that the poison is associated with the solid constituents more than with the liquid. Boiled lymph was, without exception, inoperative. The addition of 1 to 4½ per cent. carbolic acid merely weakened the contagiousness of pock-lymph, while addition of glycerine left it unaltered. Strong dilutions weakened the action, while condensations exalted it; with evaporation, the percentage of favourable cases was increased about a half. In coagulated parts produced in the lymph, the active element was present in great quantity. Perfectly dried lymph is Jalso active in high degree; hence we may infer that the communication of pox may occur by means of the crust and scurf of pustules which are rubbed off and float in the air. Inoculation with the blood of persons that were successfully inoculated proved inoperative; so also were the fresh contents of the bladders, seven days after inoculation. It is inferred that the cow-pox ferment is not contained in the blood, or not in the active state; and that very probably, also, the blood is not itself the seat of fermentation and reproduction of the poison.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Biological Notes. Nature 15, 15–16 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/015015a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015015a0