Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1901-08-24
RHEVMATIslr nIICRoBEs.
English IrVestigatOrs Think They
HaVe Found Some.

matte fevkz s. an infectious disease has
accumuIatsa within the iazr ten years,
ard whiis that theory u cot yet to be
regarded as fully established, it has ap:
parently gained some ground even this
very spring. The Philadelphia Medical
Journal refers to it as "the more gener-
ally accepted YieY," to which the lactie
acid and nervous origin explanations
have given place to some extent.
One Of the reasons for suspecting that
this disorder Eight be infectious is that
several cases Rill often occur in the
same housA, EAd it Is .,e2 slIarly DreVal+
ent inlarge eSAmunities. Again. it has
been asseyssa that the mortality and fre.
quency of rheumatic fever fuctuate in
the anne way as those of erysipelas and
sea It fever.
NV, infectious maladies are all at.
fributed to micro-organisms, and as
soon as suspicion was excited the
search began for bacteria which should
prove to be characteristic of the malady
in question. One expert hunted in the
blood; another directed his attention to
the tonsils; third examined the syno,
vial fluid, or lubricant of the joints; a
fourth tested other secreti0ns, including
exudations from the heart.
The first definite declaration of dis
coVery was made in 1891, when Bon
chard and Charrin believed that they
had found in the joint fluid certain
well knowa organism hitherto associ-
ated with superation. This was the
staphylococcus pyogenes albus. The
presence of this microbe IN the joint
would not prove much, considered by IT.
self, but in 1893 st. German succeeded
| in producing an Inflammation of the
| Joints by inoculating an animal with
| staphylococcf. OF course, a single in
! stance would not settle the question
but the experiment. was highly sugges-
tive, to say the least. Since that time
several other investigators have found
| microbes in the blood or secretions.
| Sometimes these organisms were identi-
/ fed as the aureus" or citrus" in
stead of the ''albus,'' but they were
staphy1ococci. Occasionally, however
another microbe that is characteristic
Of pus, streptococcus, was found.
/ The latest Investigations which bear
on this subject are those of Poynton
and Paine, aud are reported in the Ian
Get of May 4, 1901. The Philadelphia
Medical Journal summarizes them with
out comment. These men assert that
they isolated diplorocci in sixteen cases.
Cultures were made of organisms found
in rheumatic nodules or swellings, and
were injected into the veins Of rabbits.
In consequence, the little creatures had
rain in the joints and Inflammation OF
| the valves and covering Of the heart.
1 The fluid in their joints and some of the
brain tissues revealed the presence OF
the diplococci. PoyntoR and Paine
think that the nodules Of rheumatism
are a particularly characteristic feature
Of that disease.
It will be observed that the results OF
this latest inquiry differ from those pre-
viously obtained. Streptococci look like
chains of beads Of practically uniform
size. Staphylococci suggest rosaries
cne organism longer than the other oc-
curing every so often in the series.
Dlpiococci are usually half-round OBJ
Jects, and come in pairs. They some
times look like the halves of pea,
slightly separated. The pneumonia
germ is diplococcus, and is pointed on
one side like a rasin seed. But there are
many other points of difference besides
those of form. One takes certain kind
of stain which will not affect another
One must be cultivated in a manner IN.
like that required by another, and so on
But the most important distinction, oi
course, is that between the affects pro-
Guced on the human system when the
latter is invaded. The other character
istics are important only as means Of
identification.
Il appears, then, that Poynton and
Paine do not attribute acute infiamna
tory rheumatism to the same organism
as do their predecessors. Further study
is essential, therefore, to ascertain
which OF them is right. More expert
ments are necessary to clear UP sewers
phases of the matter. The natural his
tory Of the newly found dinlococcui
should be fully worked out, so as tc
diherentiate it distinctly from all othel
microbes, and if its responsibility foi
rheumatic fever finally be established il
will then be highly desirable TO try tc
make an antitexin thai will have cur.
atIye power.
Meantime, 1t sheulds be noted that
these researches do nels apply to "mus
cular rheumatism or s.myalgia,
whose nature and eau se still remain {
mystery. AS yet, no ne can say posi-
lively whether it is a product of beer
beefsbeak or the wealth er. Conservative
physicians confess tha ''its pathplog'
is obscure. ."-New 9Or ( Tribune.
Eight Models ran-a, ,s,.t,.,.. /r.,NNrs