Fig. 19. Ginger-beer plant.Fig.19.—Ginger-beer plant, showing yeast (Saccharomyces pyriformis) entangled in the meshes of the bacterium (B. vermiforme). (H. M. W.)
Fig.19.—Ginger-beer plant, showing yeast (Saccharomyces pyriformis) entangled in the meshes of the bacterium (B. vermiforme). (H. M. W.)
Much as the decade from 1880 to 1890 abounded with investigationsBacteria and light.on the reactions of bacteria to heat, so the following decade was remarkable for discoveries regarding the effects of other forms of radiant energy. The observations of Downes and Blunt in 1877 left it uncertain whether the bactericidal effects in broth cultures exposed to solar rays were due to thermal action or not. Further investigations, in which Arloing, Buchner, Chmelewski, and others took part, have led to the proof that rays of light alone are quite capable of killing these organisms. The principal questions were satisfactorily settled by Marshall Ward's experiments in 1892-1893, when he showed that even the spores ofB. anthracis, which withstand temperatures of 100° C. and upwards, can be killed by exposure to rays of reflected light at temperatures far below anything injurious, or even favourable to growth. He also showed that the bactericidal action takes place in the absence of food materials, thus proving that it is not merely a poisoning effect of the altered medium. The principal experiments also indicate that it is the rays of highest refrangibility—the blue-violet and ultra-violet rays of the spectrum—which bring about the destruction of the organisms (figs. 17, 18). The practical effect of the bactericidal action of solar light is the destruction of enormous quantities of germs in rivers, the atmosphere and other exposed situations, and experiments have shown that it is especially the pathogenic bacteria—anthrax, typhoid, &c.—which thus succumb to light-action; the discovery that the electric arc is very rich in bactericidal rays led to the hope that it could be used for disinfecting purposes in hospitals, but mechanical difficulties intervene. The recent application of the action of bactericidal rays to the cure of lupus is, however, an extension of the same discovery. Even when the light is not sufficiently intense, or the exposure is too short to kill the spores, the experiments show that attenuation of virulencemay result, a point of extreme importance in connexion with the lighting and ventilation of dwellings, the purification of rivers and streams, and the general diminution of epidemics in nature.
As we have seen, thermophilous bacteria can grow at highBacteria and cold.temperatures, and it has long been known that some forms develop on ice. The somewhat different question of the resistance of ripe spores or cells to extremes of heat and cold has received attention. Ravenel, Macfadyen and Rowland have shown that several bacilli will bear exposure for seven days to the temperature of liquid air (-192° C. to -183° C.) and again grow when put into normal conditions. More recent experiments have shown that even ten hours' exposure to the temperature of liquid hydrogen -252° C. (21° on the absolute scale) failed to kill them. It is probable that all these cases of resistance of seeds, spores, &c., are to be connected with the fact that completely dry albumin does not lose its coagulability on heating to 110° C. for some hours, since it is well known that completely ripe spores and dry heat are the conditions of extreme experiments.
No sharp line can be drawn between pathogenic and non-pathogenicPathogenic bacteria.Schizomycetes, and some of the most marked steps in the progress of our modern knowledge of these organisms depend on the discovery that their pathogenicity or virulence can be modified—diminished or increased—by definite treatment, and, in the natural course of epidemics, by alterations in the environment. Similarly we are unable to divide Schizomycetes sharply into parasites and saprophytes, since it is well proved that a number of species—facultative parasites—can become one or the other according to circumstances. These facts, and the further knowledge that many bacteria never observed as parasites, or as pathogenic forms, produce toxins or poisons as the result of their decompositions and fermentations of organic substances, have led to important results in the applications of bacteriology to medicine.
Fig. 20. Ginger-beer plant.Fig.20.—The ginger-beer plant.A. One of the brain-like gelatinous masses into which the mature "plant" condenses.B. The bacterium with and without its gelatinous sheaths (cf. fig. 19).C. Typical filaments and rodlets in the slimy sheaths.D. Stages of growth of a sheathed filament—aat 9A.M.,bat 3P.M.,cat 9P.M.,dat 11A.M.next day,eat 3P.M.,fat 9P.M.,gat 10.30A.M.next day,hat 24 hours later. (H. M. W.)
A. One of the brain-like gelatinous masses into which the mature "plant" condenses.
B. The bacterium with and without its gelatinous sheaths (cf. fig. 19).
C. Typical filaments and rodlets in the slimy sheaths.
D. Stages of growth of a sheathed filament—aat 9A.M.,bat 3P.M.,cat 9P.M.,dat 11A.M.next day,eat 3P.M.,fat 9P.M.,gat 10.30A.M.next day,hat 24 hours later. (H. M. W.)
Bacterial diseases in the higher plants have been described,Bacteriosis in plants.but the subject requires careful treatment, since several points suggest doubts as to the organism described being the cause of the disease referred to their agency. Until recently it was urged that the acid contents of plants explained their immunity from bacterial diseases, but it is now known that many bacteria can flourish in acid media. Another objection was that even if bacteria obtained access through the stomata, they could not penetrate the cell-walls bounding the intercellular spaces, but certain anaerobic forms are known to ferment cellulose, and others possess the power of penetrating the cell-walls of living cells, as the bacteria of Leguminosae first described by Marshall Ward in 1887, and confirmed by Miss Dawson in 1898. On the other hand a long list of plant-diseases has been of late years attributed to bacterial action. Some,e.g.the Sereh disease of the sugar-cane, the slime fluxes of oaks and other trees, are not only very doubtful cases, in which other organisms such as yeasts and fungi play their parts, but it may be regarded as extremely improbable that the bacteria are the primary agents at all; they are doubtless saprophytic forms which have gained access to rotting tissues injured by other agents. Saprophytic bacteria can readily make their way down the dead hypha of an invading fungus, or into the punctures made by insects, and Aphides have been credited with the bacterial infection of carnations, though more recent researches by Woods go to show the correctness of his conclusion that Aphides alone are responsible for the carnation disease. On the other hand, recent investigation has brought to light cases in which bacteria are certainly the primary agents in diseases of plants. The principal features are the stoppage of the vessels and consequent wilting of the shoots; as a rule the cut vessels on transverse sections of the shoots appear brown and choked with a dark yellowish slime in which bacteria may be detected,e.g.cabbages, cucumbers, potatoes, &c. In the carnation disease and in certain diseases of tobacco and other plants the seat of bacterial action appears to be the parenchyma, and it may be that Aphides or other piercing insects infect the plants, much as insects convey pollen from plant to plant, or (though in a different way) as mosquitoes infect man with malaria. If the recent work on the cabbage disease may be accepted, the bacteria make their entry at the water pores at the margins of the leaf, and thence via the glandular cells to the tracheids. Little is known of the mode of action of bacteria on these plants, but it may be assumed with great confidence that they excrete enzymes and poisons (toxins), which diffuse into the cells and kill them, and that the effects are in principle the same as those of parasitic fungi. Support is found for this opinion in Beyerinck's discovery that the juices of tobacco plants affected with the disease known as "leaf mosaic," will induce this disease after filtration through porcelain.
In addition to such cases as the kephir and ginger-beer plantsSymbiosis.(figs. 19, 20), where anaerobic bacteria are associated with yeasts, several interesting examples of symbiosis among bacteria are now known.Bacillus chauvaeiferments cane-sugar solutions in such a way that normal butyric arid, inactive lactic acid, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen result;Micrococcus acidi-paralactici, on the other hand, ferments such solutions to optically active paralactic acid. Nencki showed, however, that if both these organisms occur together, the resulting products contain large quantities of normal butyl alcohol, a substance neither bacterium can produce alone. Other observers have brought forward other cases. Thus neitherB. colinor theB. denitrificansof Burri and Stutzer can reduce nitrates, but if acting together they so completely undo the structure of sodium nitrate that the nitrogen passes off in the free state. Van Senus showed that the concurrence of two bacteria is necessary before hisB. amylobactercan ferment cellulose, and the case of mud bacteria which evolve sulphuretted hydrogen below which is utilized by sulphur bacteria above has already been quoted, as also that of Winogradsky'sClostridiumpasteurianum, which is anaerobic, and can fix nitrogen only if protected from oxygen by aerobic species. It is very probable that numerous symbiotic fermentations in the soil are due to this co-operation of oxygen-protecting species with anaerobic ones,e.g.Tetanus.
Fig. 21. Colony of Bacillus - Proteus.Fig.21.—A plate-culture colony of a species ofBacillus—Proteus(Hauser)—on the fifth day. The flame-like processes and outliers are composed of writhing filaments, and the contours are continually changing while the colony moves as a whole. Slightly magnified. (H. M. W.)
Fig.21.—A plate-culture colony of a species ofBacillus—Proteus(Hauser)—on the fifth day. The flame-like processes and outliers are composed of writhing filaments, and the contours are continually changing while the colony moves as a whole. Slightly magnified. (H. M. W.)
Astonishment has been frequently expressed at the powerfulActivity of bacteria.activities of bacteria—their rapid growth and dissemination, the extensive and profound decompositions and fermentations induced by them, the resistance of their spores to dessication, heat, &c.—but it is worth while to ask how far these properties are really remarkable when all the data for comparison with other organisms are considered. In the first place, the extremely small size and isolation of the vegetative cells place the protoplasmic contents in peculiarly favourable circumstances for action, and we may safely conclude that, weight for weight and molecule for molecule, the protoplasm of bacteria is brought into contact with the environment at far more points and over a far larger surface than is that of higher organisms, whether—as in plants—it is distributed in thin layers round the sap-vacuoles, or—as in animals—is bathed in fluids brought by special mechanisms to irrigate it. Not only so, the isolation of the cells facilitates the exchange of liquids and gases, the passage in of food materials and out of enzymes and products of metabolism, and thus each unit of protoplasm obtains opportunities of immediate action, the results of which are removed with equal rapidity, not attainable in more complex multi-cellular organisms. To put the matter in another way, if we could imagine all the living cells of a large oak or of a horse, having given up the specializations of function impressed on them during evolution and simply carrying out the fundamental functions of nutrition, growth, and multiplication which mark the generalized activities of the bacterial cell, and at the same time rendered as accessible to the environment by isolation and consequent extension of surface, we should doubtless find them exerting changes in the fermentable fluids necessary to their life similar to those exerted by an equal mass of bacteria, and that in proportion to their approximation in size to the latter. Ciliary movements, which undoubtedly contribute in bringing the surface into contact with larger supplies of oxygen and other fluids in unity of time, are not so rapid or so extensive when compared with other standards than the apparent dimensions of the microscopic field. The microscope magnifies the distance traversed as well as the organism, and although a bacterium which covers 9-10 cm. or more in 15 minutes—say 0.1 mm. or 100 µ per second—appears to be darting across the field with great velocity, because its own small size—say 5 × 1 µ—comes into comparison, it should be borne in mind that if a mouse 2 in. long only, travelled twenty times its own length,i.e.40 in., in a second, the distance traversed in 15 minutes at that rate, viz. 1000 yards, would not appear excessive. In a similar way we must be careful, in our wonder at the marvellous rapidity of cell-division and growth of bacteria, that we do not exaggerate the significance of the phenomenon. It takes any ordinary rodlet 30-40 minutes to double its length and divide into two equal daughter cells when growth is at its best; nearer the minimum it may require 3-4 hours or even much longer. It is by no means certain that even the higher rate is greater than that exhibited by a tropical bamboo which will grow over a foot a day, or even common grasses, or asparagus, during the active period of cell-division, though the phenomenon is here complicated by the phase of extension due to intercalation of water. The enormous extension of surface also facilitates the absorption of energy from the environment, and, to take one case only, it is impossible to doubt that some source of radiant energy must be at the disposal of those prototrophic forms which decompose carbonates and assimilate carbonic acid in the dark and oxidize nitrogen in dry rocky regions where no organic materials are at their disposal, even could they utilize them. It is usually stated that the carbon dioxide molecule is here split by means of energy derived from the oxidation of nitrogen, but apart from the fact that none of these processes can proceed until the temperature rises to the minimum cardinal point, Engelmann's experiment shows that in the purple bacteria rays are used other than those employed by green plants, and especially ultra-red rays not seen in the spectrum, and we may probably conclude that "dark rays"—i.e.rays not appearing in the visible spectrum—are absorbed and employed by these and other colourless bacteria. The purple bacteria have thus two sources of energy, one by the oxidation of sulphur and another by the absorption of "dark rays." Stoney (Scient. Proc. R. Dub. Soc., 1893, p. 154) has suggested yet another source of energy, in the bombardment of these minute masses by the molecules of the environment, the velocity of which is sufficient to drive them well into the organism, and carry energy in of which they can avail themselves.
Fig. 22.--Portions of colony of Bacillus - Proteus.Fig.22.—Portions of a colony such as that in fig. 21, highly magnified, showing the kinds of changes brought about in a few minutes, from A to B, and B to C, by the growth and ciliary movements of the filaments. The arrows show the direction of motion. (H. M. W.)
Fig.22.—Portions of a colony such as that in fig. 21, highly magnified, showing the kinds of changes brought about in a few minutes, from A to B, and B to C, by the growth and ciliary movements of the filaments. The arrows show the direction of motion. (H. M. W.)
Authorities.—General: Fischer,The Structure and Functions of Bacteria(Oxford, 1900, 2nd ed.), German (Jena, 1903); Migula,System der Bakterien(Jena, 1897); and in Engler and Prantl,Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, I. Th. 1 Abt.a; Lafar,Technical Mycology(vol. i. London, 1898); Mace,Traité pratique de bakteriologie(5th ed. 1904). Fossil bacteria: Renault, "Recherches sur les Bactériacées fossiles,"Ann. des Sc. Nat., 1896, p. 275. Bacteria in Water: Frankland and Marshall Ward. "Reports on the Bacteriology of Water,"Proc. R. Soc., vol. li. p. 183, vol. liii. p. 245, vol. lvi. p. 1; Marshall Ward, "On the Biology ofB. ramosus,"Proc. R. Soc., vol. lviii. p. 1; and papers on Bacteria of the river Thames inAnn. of Bot.vol. xii. pp. 59 and 287, and vol. xiii. p. 197. Cell-membrane, &c.: Butschli,Weitere Ausfuhrungen über den Bau der Cyanophyceen und Bakterien(Leipzig, 1896); Fischer,Unters. über den Bau der Cyanophyceen und Bakterien(Jena, 1897); Rowland, "Observations upon the Structure of Bacteria,"Trans. Jenner Institute, 2nd ser. 1899, p. 143, with literature. Cilia: Fischer, "Unters. über Bakterien,"Pringsh. Jahrb.vol. xxvii.; also the works of Migula and Fischer already cited. Nucleus: Wager inAnn. Bot.vol. ix. p. 659; also Migula and Fischer,l.c.; Vejdovsky, "Über den Kern der Bakterien und seine Teilung,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. xi. (1904) p. 481;ibid."Cytologisches über die Bakterien der Prager Wasserleitung,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. xv. (1905); Mencl, "Nachträge zu den Strukturverhältnissen von Bakterium gammari" inArchiv f. Protistenkunde, Bd. viii. (1907), p. 257. Spores, &c.: Marshall Ward, "On the Biology ofB. ramosus,"Proc. R. Soc., 1895, vol. lviii. p. 1; Sturgis, "A Soil Bacillus of the type of de Bary'sB. megatherium,"Phil. Trans.vol. cxci. p. 147; Klein, L.,Ber. d. deutschen bot. Gesellsch.(1889), Bd. vii.; andCent. f. Bakt. und Par.(1889), Bd. vi. Classification: Marshall Ward, "On the Characters or Marks employed for classifying the Schizomycetes,"Ann. of Bot., 1892, vol. vi.; Lehmann and Neumann,Atlas and Essentials of Bacteriology; also the works of Migula and Fischer already cited. Myxobacteriaceae: Berkeley,Introd. to Cryptogamic Botany(1857), p. 313; Thaxter, "A New Order of Schizomycetes,"Bot. Gaz.vol. xvii. (1892), p. 389; and "Further Observations on the Myxobacteriaceae,"ibid.vol. xxiii. (1897), p. 395, and "Notes on the Myxobacteriaceae,"ibid.vol. xxxvii. (1904), p. 405; Baur, "Myxobakterienstudien,"Arch. f. Protistenkunde, Bd. v. (1904), p. 92; Smith, "Myxobacteria,"Jour. of Botany, 1901, p. 69; Quehl,Cent. f. Bakt.xvi. (1896), p. 9. Growth: Marshall Ward, "On the Biology ofB. ramosus,"Proc. R. Soc.vol. lviii. p. 1 (1895). Fermentation, &c.: Warington,The Chemical Action of some Micro-organisms(London, 1888); Winogradsky, "Recherches sur les organismes de la nitrification,"Ann. de l'Inst. Past., 1890, pp. 213, 257, 760, 1891, pp. 92 and 577; "Sur l'assimilation de l'azote gazeux, &c.,"Compt. Rend., 12 Feb. 1894; "Zur Microbiologie des Nitrifikationsprozesses,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. ii. (1896), p. 415; "Ueber Schwefel-Bakterien,"Bot. Zeitg., 1887, Nos. 31-37;Beitr. zur Morph. u. Phys. der Bakterien, H. 1 (1888); "Ueber Eisenbakterien,"Bot. Zeitg., 1888, p. 261; and Omeliansky, "Ueber den Einfluss der organischen Substanzen auf die Arbeit der nitrifizierenden Organismen,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. v. (1896); Schorler, "Beitr. zur Kenntniss der Eisenbakterien,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. xii. (1904), p. 681; Marshall Ward, "On the Tubercular Swellings on the Roots of Vicia Faba,"Phil. Trans., 1877, p. 539; Hellriegel and Wilfarth, "Unters. über die Stickstoffnahrung der Gramineen u. Leguminosen,"Beit. Zeit. d. Vereins für die Rübenzuckerindustrie(Berlin, 1888); Nobbe and Hiltner,Landw. Versuchsstationen(1899), Bd. 51, p. 241, and Bd. 52, p. 455; Mazé,Annales de l'Institut Pasteur, t. II, p. 44, and t. 12, p. 1 (1897); Prazmowski,Land. Versuchsstationen, Bd. 37 (1890), p. 161, Bd. 38 (1891), p. 5; Frank,Landw. Jahrb.Bd. 17 (1888), p. 441; Omelianski, "Sur la fermentation de la cellulose,"Compt. Rend., 4 Nov. 1895; van Senus,Beitr. zur Kenntn. der Cellulosegährung(Leiden, 1890); van Tieghem, "Sur la fermentation de la cellulose,"Bull. de la soc. bot. de Fr.t. xxvi. (1879), p. 28; Beyerinck "Ueber Spirillum desulphuricans, &c.,"Cent. f. Bakt.Abt. II. Bd. i. (1895), p. 1; Molisch,Die Pflanze in ihren Beziehungen zum Eisen(Jena, 1892). Pigment Bacteria: Ewart, "On the Evolution of Oxygen from Coloured Bacteria,"Linn. Journ., 1897, vol. xxxiii. p. 123; Molisch,Die Purpurbakterien(Jena, 1907). Oxydases and Enzymes: Green,The Soluble Ferments and Fermentation(Cambridge, 1899). Action of Light, &c.: Marshall Ward, "The Action of Light on Bacteria,"Phil. Trans., 1893, p. 961, and literature. Resistance to Cold, &c.: Ravenel,Med. News, 1899, vol. lxxiv.; Macfadyen and Rowland,Proc. R. Soc.vol. lxvi. pp. 180, 339, and 488; Farmer, "Observations on the Effect of Desiccation of Albumin upon its Coagulability,"ibid.p. 329. Pathogenic Bacteria: Baumgarten,Pathologische Mykologie(1890); Kolle and Wassermann,Handbuch der pathogenen Mikroorganismen(1902-1904); and numerous special works in medical literature. Immunity: Ehrlich, "On Immunity with Special Reference to Cell-life,"Proc. R. Soc.vol. lxvi. p. 424; Calcar, "Die Fortschritte der Immunitäts- und Spezifizetätslehre seit 1870,"Progressus Rei Botanicae, Bd. I. Heft 3 (1907). Bacteriosis: Migula,l.c.p. 322, has collected the literature; see also Sorauer,Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten, I. (1905), pp. 18-93, for later literature. Symbiosis: Marshall Ward, "Symbiosis,"Ann. of Bot.vol. xiii. p. 549, and literature.
(H. M. W.; V. H. B.)
II.Pathological Importance
The action of bacteria as pathogenic agents is in great part merely an instance of their general action as producers of chemical change, yet bacteriology as a whole has become so extensive, and has so important a bearing on subjects widely different from one another, that division of it has become essential. The science will accordingly be treated in this section from the pathological standpoint only. It will be considered under the three following heads, viz. (1) the methods employed in the study; (2) the modes of action of bacteria and the effects produced by them; and (3) the facts and theories with regard to immunity against bacterial disease.
The demonstration by Pasteur that definite diseases couldHistorical summary.be produced by bacteria, proved a great stimulus to research in the etiology of infective conditions, and the result was a rapid advance in human knowledge. An all-important factor in this remarkable progress was the introduction by Koch of solid culture media, of the "plate-method," &c., an account of which he published in 1881. By means of these the modes of cultivation, and especially of separation, of bacteria were greatly simplified. Various modifications have since been made, but the routine methods in bacteriological procedure still employed are in great part those given by Koch. By 1876 the anthrax bacillus had been obtained in pure culture by Koch, and some other pathogenic bacteria had been observed in the tissues, but it was in the decade 1880-1890 that the most important discoveries were made in this field. Thus the organisms of suppuration, tubercle, glanders, diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera, tetanus, and others were identified, and their relationship to the individual diseases established. In the last decade of the 19th century the chief discoveries were of the bacillus of influenza (1892), of the bacillus of plague (1894) and of the bacillus of dysentery (1898). Immunity against diseases caused by bacteria has been the subject of systematic research from 1880 onwards. In producing active immunity by the attenuated virus, Duguid and J. S. Burdon-Sanderson and W. S. Greenfield in Great Britain, and Pasteur, Toussaint and Chauveau in France, were pioneers. The work of Metchnikoff, dating from about 1884, has proved of high importance, his theory of phagocytosis (vide infra) having given a great stimulus to research, and having also contributed to important advances. The modes by which bacteria produce their effects also became a subject of study, and attention was naturally turned to their toxic products. The earlier work, notably that of L. Brieger, chiefly concerned ptomaines (vide infra), but no great advance resulted. A new field of inquiry was, however, opened up when, by filtration a bacterium-free toxic fluid was obtained which produced the important symptoms of the disease—in the case of diphtheria by P. P. E. Roux and A. Yersin (1888), and in the case of tetanus a little later by various observers. Research was thus directed towards ascertaining the nature of the toxic bodies in such a fluid, and Brieger and Fraenkel (1890) found that they were proteids, to which they gave the name "toxalbumins." Though subsequent researches have on the whole confirmed these results, it is still a matter of dispute whether these proteids are the true toxins or merely contain the toxic bodies precipitated along with them. In the United Kingdom the work of Sidney Martin, in the separation of toxic substances from the bodies of those who have died from certain diseases, is also worthy of mention. Immunity against toxins also became a subject of investigation, and the result was the discovery of the antitoxic action of the serum of animals immunized against tetanus toxin by E. Behring and Kitazato (1890), and by Tizzoni and Cattani. A similar result was also obtained in the case of diphtheria. The facts with regard to passive immunity were thus established and were put to practical application by the introduction of diphtheria antitoxin as a therapeutic agent in 1894. The technique of serum preparation has become since that time greatly elaborated and improved, the work of P. Ehrlich in this respect being specially noteworthy. The laws of passive immunity were shown to hold also in the case of immunity against living organisms by R. Pfeiffer (1894), and various anti-bacterial sera have been introduced. Of these the anti-streptococcic serum of A. Marmorek (1895) is one of the best known. The principles of protective inoculation have been developed and practically applied on a large scale, notably by W. M. W. Haffkine in the case of cholera (1893) and plague (1896), and more recently by Wright and Semple in the case of typhoid fever. One other discovery of great importance may be mentioned, viz. the agglutinative action of the serum of a patient suffering from a bacterial disease, first described in the case of typhoid fever independently by Widal and by Grünbaum in 1896, though led up to by the work of Pfeiffer, Gruber and Durham and others. Thus a new aid was added to medical science, viz. serum diagnosis of disease. The last decade of the 19th century will stand out in the history of medical science as the period in which serum therapeutics and serum diagnosis had their birth.
In recent years the relations of toxin and antitoxin, still obscure, have been the subject of much study and controversy. It was formerly supposed that the injection of attenuated cultures or dead organisms—vaccines in the widest sense—was only of service in producing immunity as a preventive measure against the corresponding organism, but the work ofSir Almroth Wright has shown that the use of such vaccines may be of service even after infection has occurred, especially when the resulting disease is localized. In this case a general reaction is stimulated by the vaccine which may aid in the destruction of the invading organisms. In regulating the administration of such vaccines he has introduced the method of observing theopsonic index, to which reference is made below. Of the discoveries of new organisms the most important is that of theSpirochaete pallidain syphilis by Schaudinn and Hoffmann in 1905; and although proof that it is the cause of the disease is not absolute, the facts that have been established constitute very strong presumptive evidence in favour of this being the case. It may be noted, however, that it is still doubtful whether this organism is to be placed amongst the bacteria or amongst the protozoa.
The methods employed in studying the relation of bacteriaMethods of study.to disease are in principle comparatively simple, but considerable experience and great care are necessary in applying them and in interpreting results. In any given disease there are three chief steps, viz. (1) the discovery of a bacterium in the affected tissues by means of the microscope; (2) the obtaining of the bacterium in pure culture; and (3) the production of the disease by inoculation with a pure culture. By means of microscopic examination more than one organism may sometimes be observed in the tissues, but one single organism by its constant presence and special relations to the tissue changes can usually be selected as the probable cause of the disease, and attempts towards its cultivation can then be made. Such microscopic examination requires the use of the finest lenses and the application of variousstainingmethods. In these latter the basic aniline dyes in solution are almost exclusively used, on account of their special affinity for the bacterial protoplasm. The methods vary much in detail, though in each case the endeavour is to colour the bacteria as deeply, and the tissues as faintly, as possible. Sometimes a simple watery solution of the dye is sufficient, but very often the best result is obtained by increasing the staining power,e.g.by addition of weak alkali, application of heat, &c., and by using some substance which acts as a mordant and tends to fix the stain to the bacteria. Excess of stain is afterwards removed from the tissues by the use of decolorizing agents, such as acids of varying strength and concentration, alcohol, &c. Different bacteria behave very differently to stains; some take them up rapidly, others slowly, some resist decolorization, others are easily decolorized. In some instances the stain can be entirely removed from the tissues, leaving the bacteria alone coloured, and the tissues can then be stained by another colour. This is the case in the methods for staining the tubercle bacillus and also in Gram's method, the essential point in which latter is the treatment with a solution of iodine before decolorizing. In Gram's method, however, only some bacteria retain the stain, while others lose it. The tissues and fluids are treated by various histological methods, but, to speak generally, examination is made either in films smeared on thin cover-glasses and allowed to dry, or in thin sections cut by the microtome after suitable fixation and hardening of the tissue. In the case of any bacterium discovered, observation must be made in a long series of instances in order to determine its invariable presence.
In cultivating bacteria outside the body various media toCultivation.serve as food material must be prepared and sterilized by heat. The general principle in their preparation is to supply the nutriment for bacterial growth in a form as nearly similar as possible to that of the natural habitat of the organisms—in the case of pathogenic bacteria, the natural fluids of the body. The media are used either in a fluid or solid condition, the latter being obtained by a process of coagulation, or by the addition of a gelatinizing agent, and are placed in glass tubes or flasks plugged with cotton-wool. To mention examples, blood serum solidified at a suitable temperature is a highly suitable medium, and various media are made with extract of meat as a basis, with the addition of gelatine or agar as solidifying agents and of non-coagulable proteids (commercial "peptone") to make up for proteids lost by coagulation in the preparation. The reaction of the media must in every case be carefully attended to, a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction being, as a rule, most suitable; for delicate work it may be necessary to standardize the reaction by titration methods. The media from the store-flasks are placed in glass test-tubes or small flasks, protected from contamination by cotton-wool plugs, and are sterilized by heat. For most purposes the solid media are to be preferred, since bacterial growth appears as a discrete mass and accidental contamination can be readily recognized. Cultures are made by transferring by means of a sterile platinum wire a little of the material containing the bacteria to the medium. The tubes, after being thus inoculated, are kept at suitable temperatures, usually either at 37° C., the temperature of the body, or at about 20° C., a warm summer temperature, until growth appears. For maintaining a constant temperature incubators with regulating apparatus are used. Subsequent cultures or, as they are called, "subcultures," may be made by inoculating fresh tubes, and in this way growth may be maintained often for an indefinite period. The simplest case is that in which only one variety of bacterium is present, and a "pure culture" may then be obtained at once. When, however, several species are present together, means must be adopted for separating them. For this purpose various methods have been devised, the most important being theplate-methodof Koch. In this method the bacteria are distributed in a gelatine or agar medium liquefied by heat, and the medium is then poured out on sterile glass plates or in shallow glass dishes, and allowed to solidify. Each bacterium capable of growth gives rise to a colony visible to the naked eye, and if the colonies are sufficiently apart, an inoculation can be made from any one to a tube of culture-medium and a pure culture obtained. Of course, in applying the method means must be adopted for suitably diluting the bacterial mixture. Another important method consists in inoculating an animal with some fluid containing the various bacteria. A pathogenic bacterium present may invade the body, and may be obtained in pure culture from the internal organs. This method applies especially to pathogenic bacteria whose growth on culture media is slow,e.g.the tubercle bacillus.
The full description of a particular bacterium implies an account not only of its microscopical characters, but also of its growth characters in various culture media, its biological properties, and the effects produced in animals by inoculation. To demonstrate readily its action on various substances, certain media have been devised. For example, various sugars—lactose, glucose, saccharose, &c.—are added to test the fermentative action of the bacterium on these substances; litmus is added to show changes in reaction, specially standardized media being used for estimating such changes; peptone solution is commonly employed for testing whether or not the bacterium forms indol; sterilized milk is used as a culture medium to determine whether or not it is curdled by the growth. Sometimes a bacterium can be readily recognized from one or two characters, but not infrequently a whole series of tests must be made before the species is determined. As our knowledge has advanced it has become abundantly evident that the so-called pathogenic bacteria are not organisms with special features, but that each is a member of a group of organisms possessing closely allied characters. From the point of view of evolution we may suppose that certain races of a group of bacteria have gradually acquired the power of invading the tissues of the body and producing disease. In the acquisition of pathogenic properties some of their original characters have become changed, but in many instances this has taken place only to a slight degree, and, furthermore, some of these changes are not of a permanent character. It is to be noted that in the case of bacteria we can only judge of organisms being of different species by the stability of the characters which distinguish them, and numerous examples might be given where their characters become modified by comparatively slight change in their environment. The cultural as well as the microscopicalcharacters of a pathogenic organism may be closely similar to other non-pathogenic members of the same group, and it thus comes to be a matter of extreme difficulty in certain cases to state what criterion should be used in differentiating varieties. The tests which are applied for this purpose at present are chiefly of two kinds. In the first place, such organisms may be differentiated by the chemical change produced by them in various culture media,e.g.by their fermentative action on various sugars, &c., though in this case such properties may become modified in the course of time. And in the second place, the various serum reactions to be described below have been called into requisition. It may be stated that the introduction of a particular bacterium into the tissues of the body leads to certain properties appearing in the serum, which are chiefly exerted towards this particular bacterium. Such a serum may accordingly within certain limits be used for differentiating this organism from others closely allied to it (vide infra).
The modes of cultivation described apply only to organisms which grow in presence of oxygen. Some, however—the strictlyanaerobicbacteria—grow only in the absence of oxygen; hence means must be adopted for excluding this gas. It is found that if the inoculation be made deep down in a solid medium, growth of an anaerobic organism will take place, especially if the medium contains some reducing agent such as glucose. Such cultures are called "deep cultures." To obtain growth of an anaerobic organism on the surface of a medium, in using the plate method, and also for cultures in fluids, the air is displaced by an indifferent gas, usually hydrogen.
In testing the effects of bacteria by inoculation the smallerInoculation.rodents, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and mice, are usually employed. One great drawback in certain cases is that such animals are not susceptible to a given bacterium, or that the disease is different in character from that in the human subject. In some cases,e.g.Malta fever and relapsing fever, monkeys have been used with success, but in others,e.g.leprosy, none of the lower animals has been found to be susceptible. Discretion must therefore be exercised in interpreting negative results in the lower animals. For purposes of inoculation young vigorous cultures must be used. The bacteria are mixed with some indifferent fluid, or a fluid culture is employed. The injections are made by means of a hypodermic syringe into the subcutaneous tissue, into a vein, into one of the serous sacs, or more rarely into some special part of the body. The animal, after injection, must be kept in favourable surroundings, and any resulting symptoms noted. It may die, or may be killed at any time desired, and then a post-mortem examination is made, the conditions of the organs, &c., being observed and noted. The various tissues affected are examined microscopically and cultures made from them; in this way the structural changes and the relation of bacteria to them can be determined.
Though the causal relationship of a bacterium to a disease may be completely established by the methods given, another very important part of bacteriology is concerned with the poisons or toxins formed by bacteria. These toxins may become free in the culture fluid, and the living bacteria may then be got ridSeparation of toxins.of by filtering the fluid through a filter of unglazed porcelain, whose pores are sufficiently small to retain them. The passage of the fluid is readily effected by negative pressure produced by an ordinary water exhaust-pump. The effects of the filtrate are then tested by the methods used in pharmacology. In other instances the toxins are retained to a large extent within the bacteria, and in this case the dead bacteria are injected as a suspension in fluid. Methods have been introduced for the purpose of breaking up the bodies of bacteria and setting free the intracellular toxins. For this purpose Koch ground up tubercle bacilli in an agate mortar and treated them with distilled water until practically no deposit remained. Rowland and Macfadyen for the same purpose introduced the method of grinding the bacilli in liquid air. At this temperature the bacterial bodies are extremely brittle, and are thus readily broken up. The study of the nature of toxins requires, of course, the various methods of organic chemistry. Attempts to obtain them in an absolutely pure condition have, however, failed in important cases. So that when a "toxin" is spoken of, a mixture with other organic substances is usually implied. Or the toxin may be precipitated with other organic substances, purified to a certain extent by re-solution, re-precipitation, &c., and desiccated. A "dry toxin" is thus obtained, though still in an impure condition. Toxic substances have also been separated by corresponding methods from the bodies of those who have died of certain diseases, and the action of such substances on animals is in some cases an important point in the pathology of the disease. Another auxiliary method has been applied in this department, viz. the separation of organic substances by filtration under high pressure through a colloid membrane, gelatine supported in the pores of a porcelain filter being usually employed. It has been found, for example, that a toxin may pass through such a filter while an antitoxin may not. The methods of producing immunity are dealt with below.
The fact that in anthrax, one of the first diseases to be fullyBacteria as agents of disease.studied, numerous bacilli are present in the blood of infected animals, gave origin to the idea that the organisms might produce their effect by using up the oxygen of the blood. Such action is now known to be quite a subsidiary matter. And although effects may sometimes be produced in a mechanical manner by bacteria plugging capillaries of important organs,e.g.brain and kidneys, it may now be stated as an accepted fact that all the important results of bacteria in the tissues are due to poisonous bodies or toxins formed by them. Here, just as in the general subject of fermentation, we must inquire whether the bacteria form the substances in question directly or by means of non-living ferments or enzymes. With regard to toxin formation the following general statements may be made. In certain instances,e.g.in the case of the tetanus and diphtheria bacilli, the production of soluble toxins can be readily demonstrated by filtering a culture in bouillon germ-free by means of a porcelain filter, and then injecting some of the filtrate into an animal. In this way the characteristic features of the disease can be reproduced. Such toxins being set free in the culture medium are often known asextracellular. In many cases, however, the filtrate, when injected, produces comparatively little effect, whilst toxic action is observed when the bacteria in a dead condition are used; this is the case with the organisms of tubercle, cholera, typhoid and many others. The toxins are here manifestly contained within the bodies of the bacteria,i.e.areintracellular, though they may become free on disintegration of the bacteria. The action of these intracellular toxins has in many instances nothing characteristic, but is merely in the direction of producing fever and interfering with the vital processes of the body generally, these disturbances often going on to a fatal result. In other words, the toxins of different bacteria are closely similar in their results on the body and the features of the corresponding diseases are largely regulated by the vital properties of the bacteria, their distribution in the tissues, &c. The distinction between the two varieties of toxins, though convenient, must not be pushed too far, as we know little regarding their mode of formation. Although the formation of toxins with characteristic action can be shown by the above methods, yet in some cases little or no toxic action can be demonstrated. This, for example, is the case with the anthrax bacillus; although the effect of this organism in the living body indicates the production of toxins which diffuse for a distance around the bacteria. This and similar facts have suggested that some toxins are only produced in the living body. A considerable amount of work has been done in connexion with this subject, and many observers have found that fluids taken from the living body in which the organisms have been growing, contain toxic substances, to which the name ofaggressinshas been applied. Fluid containing these aggressins greatly increases the toxic effect of the corresponding bacteria, and may produce death at an earlier stage than ever occurs with the bacteria alone. They also appear to have in certain cases a paralysing action on the cells which act as phagocytes. Thework on this subject is highly suggestive, and opens up new possibilities with regard to the investigation of bacterial action within the body. Not only are the general symptoms of poisoning in bacterial disease due to toxic substances, but also the tissue changes, many of them of inflammatory nature, in the neighbourhood of the bacteria. Thus, to mention examples, diphtheria toxin produces inflammatory oedema which may be followed by necrosis; dead tubercle bacilli give rise to a tubercle-like nodule, &c. Furthermore, a bacillus may give rise to more than one toxic body, either as stages in one process of change or as distinct products. Thus paralysis following diphtheria is in all probability due to a different toxin from that which causes the acute symptoms of poisoning or possibly to a modification of it sometimes formed in specially large amount. It is interesting to note that in the case of the closely analogous example of snake venoms, there may be separated from a single venom a number of toxic bodies which have a selective action on different animal tissues.
Regarding the chemical nature of toxins less is known thanNature of toxins.regarding their physiological action. Though an enormous amount of work has been done on the subject, no important bacterial toxin has as yet been obtained in a pure condition, and, though many of them are probably of proteid nature, even this cannot be asserted with absolute certainty. Brieger, in his earlier work, found that alkaloids were formed by bacteria in a variety of conditions, and that some of them were poisonous. These alkaloids he calledptomaines. The methods used in the investigations were, however, open to objection, and it is now recognized that although organic bases may sometimes be formed, and may be toxic, the important toxins are not of that nature. A later research by Brieger along with Fraenkel pointed to the extracellular toxins of diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases being of proteid nature, and various other observers have arrived at a like conclusion. The general result of such research has been to show that the toxic bodies are, like proteids, precipitable by alcohol and various salts; they are soluble in water, are somewhat easily dialysable, and are relatively unstable both to light and heat. Attempts to get a pure toxin by repeated precipitation and solution have resulted in the production of a whitish amorphous powder with highly toxic properties. Such a powder gives a proteid reaction, and is no doubt largely composed of albumoses, hence the nametoxalbumoseshas been applied. The question has, however, been raised whether the toxin is really itself a proteid, or whether it is not merely carried down with the precipitate. Brieger and Boer, by precipitation with certain salts, notably of zinc, obtained a body which was toxic but gave no reaction of any form of proteid. There is of course the possibility in this case that the toxin was a proteid, but was in so small amount that it escaped detection. These facts show the great difficulty of the problem, which is probably insoluble by present methods of analysis; the only test, in fact, for the existence of a toxin is its physiological effect. It may also be mentioned that many toxins have now been obtained by growing the particular organism in a proteid-free medium, a fact which shows that if the toxin is a proteid it may be formed synthetically by the bacterium as well as by modification of proteid already present. With regard to the nature of intracellular toxins, there is even greater difficulty in the investigation and still less is known. Many of them, probably also of proteid nature, are much more resistant to heat; thus the intracellular toxins of the tubercle bacillus retain certain of their effects even after exposure to 100° C. Like the extracellular toxins they may be of remarkable potency; for example, fever is produced in the human subject by the injection into the blood of an extremely minute quantity of dead typhoid bacilli.
We cannot as yet speak definitely with regard to the partEnzymes.played by enzymes in these toxic processes. Certain toxins resemble enzymes as regards their conditions of precipitation and relative instability, and the fact that in most cases a considerable period intervenes between the time of injection and the occurrence of symptoms has been adduced in support of the view that enzymes are present. In the case of diphtheria Sidney Martin obtained toxic albumoses in the spleen, which he considered were due to the digestive action of an enzyme formed by the bacillus in the membrane and absorbed into the circulation. According to this view, then, a part at least of the directly toxic substance is produced in the living body by enzymes present in the so-called toxin obtained from the bacterial culture. Recent researches go to show that enzymes play a greater part in fermentation by living ferments than was formerly supposed, and by analogy it is likely that they are also concerned in the processes of disease. But this has not been proved, and hitherto no enzyme has been separated from a pathogenic bacterium capable of forming, by digestive or other action, the toxic bodies from proteids outside the body. It is also to be noted that, as in the case of poisons of known constitution, each toxin has a minimum lethal dose which is proportionate to the weight of the animal and which can be ascertained with a fair degree of accuracy.
The action of toxins is little understood. It consists in all probability of disturbance, by means of the chemical affinities of the toxin, of the highly complicated molecules of living cells. This disturbance results in disintegration to a varying degree, and may produce changes visible on microscopic examination. In other cases such changes cannot be detected, and the only evidence of their occurrence may be the associated symptoms. The very important work of Ehrlich on diphtheria toxin shows that in the molecule of toxin there are at least two chief atom groups—one, the "haptophorous," by which the toxin molecule is attached to the cell protoplasm; and the other the "toxophorous," which has a ferment-like action on the living molecule, producing a disturbance which results in the toxic symptoms. On this theory, susceptibility to a toxin will imply both a chemical affinity of certain tissues for the toxin molecule and also sensitiveness to its actions, and, furthermore, non-susceptibility may result from the absence of either of these two properties.
A bacterial infection when analysed is seen to be of the natureBacterial infection.of an intoxication. There is, however, another all-important factor concerned, viz. the multiplication of the living organisms in the tissues; this is essential to, and regulates, the supply of toxins. It is important that these two essential factors should be kept clearly in view, since the means of defence against any disease may depend upon the power either of neutralizing toxins or of killing the organisms producing them. It is to be noted that there is no fixed relation between toxin production and bacterial multiplication in the body, some of the organisms most active as toxin producers having comparatively little power of invading the tissues.
We shall now consider how bacteria may behave when theyThe production of disease.have gained entrance to the body, what effects may be produced, and what circumstances may modify the disease in any particular case. The extreme instance of bacterial invasion is found in some of the septicaemias in the lower animals,e.g.anthrax septicaemia in guinea-pigs, pneumococcus septicaemia in rabbits. In such diseases the bacteria, when introduced into the subcutaneous tissue, rapidly gain entrance to the blood stream and multiply freely in it, and by means of their toxins cause symptoms of general poisoning. A widespread toxic action is indicated by the lesions found—cloudy swelling, which may be followed by fatty degeneration, in internal organs, capillary haemorrhages, &c. In septicaemia in the human subject, often due to streptococci, the process is similar, but the organisms are found especially in the capillaries of the internal organs and may not be detectable in the peripheral circulation during life. In another class of diseases, the organisms first produce some well-marked local lesion, from which secondary extension takes place by the lymph or blood stream to other parts of the body, where corresponding lesions are formed. In this way secondary abscesses, secondary tubercle glanders and nodules, &c., result; in typhoid fever there is secondary invasion of the mesenteric glands, and clumps of bacilli are also found in internal organs, especially the spleen, though there may be little tissue change around them. In all such cases there is seen a selective character in the distribution of the lesions, some organs being in any disease much more liable to infection than others. In stillanother class of diseases the bacteria are restricted to some particular part of the body, and the symptoms are due to toxins which are absorbed from it. Thus in cholera the bacteria are practically confined to the intestine, in diphtheria to the region of the false membrane, in tetanus to some wound. In the last-mentioned disease even the local multiplication depends upon the presence of other bacteria, as the tetanus bacillus has practically no power of multiplying in the healthy tissues when introduced alone.
The effects produced by bacteria may be considered underTissue changes.the following heads: (1) tissue changes produced in the vicinity of the bacteria, either at the primary or secondary foci; (2) tissue changes produced at a distance by absorption of their toxins; (3) symptoms. The changes in the vicinity of bacteria are to be regarded partly as thedirect resultof the action of toxins on living cells, and partly as indicating areactionon the part of the tissues. (Many such changes are usually grouped together under the heading of "inflammation" of varying degree—acute, subacute and chronic.) Degeneration and death of cells, haemorrhages, serous and fibrinous exudations, leucocyte emigration, proliferation of connective tissue and other cells, may be mentioned as some of the fundamental changes. Acute inflammation of various types, suppuration, granulation-tissue formation, &c., represent some of the complex resulting processes. The changes produced at a distance by distribution of toxins may be very manifold—cloudy swelling and fatty degeneration, serous effusions, capillary haemorrhages, various degenerations of muscle, hyaline degeneration of small blood-vessels, and, in certain chronic diseases, waxy degeneration, all of which may be widespread, are examples of the effects of toxins, rapid or slow in action. Again, in certain cases the toxin has a special affinity for certain tissues. Thus in diphtheria changes in both nerve cells and nerve fibres have been found, and in tetanus minute alterations in the nucleus and protoplasm of nerve cells.
The lesions mentioned are in many instances necessarilySymptoms.accompanied by functional disturbances or clinical symptoms, varying according to site, and to the nature and degree of the affection. In addition, however, there occur in bacterial diseases symptoms to which the correlated structural changes have not yet been demonstrated. Amongst these the most important is fever with increased protein metabolism, attended with disturbances of the circulatory and respiratory Systems. Nervous symptoms, somnolence, coma, spasms, convulsions and paralysis are of common occurrence. All such phenomena, however, are likewise due to the disturbance of the molecular constitution of living cells. Alterations in metabolism are found to be associated with some of these, but with others no corresponding physical change can be demonstrated. The action of toxins on various glands, producing diminished or increased functional activity, has a close analogy to that of certain drugs. In short, if we place aside the outstanding exception of tumour growth, we may say that practically all the important phenomena met with in disease may be experimentally produced by the injection of bacteria or of their toxins.
The result of the entrance of a virulent bacterium into theSusceptibility.tissues of an animal is not a disease with hard and fast characters, but varies greatly with circumstances. With regard to the subject of infection the chief factor is susceptibility; with regard to the bacterium virulence is all-important. Susceptibility, as is well recognized, varies much under natural conditions in different species, in different races of the same species, and amongst individuals of the same race. It also varies with the period of life, young subjects being more susceptible to certain diseases,e.g.diphtheria, than adults. Further, there is the very important factor of acquired susceptibility. It has been experimentally shown that conditions such as fatigue, starvation, exposure to cold, &c., lower the general resisting powers and increase the susceptibility to bacterial infection. So also the local powers of resistance may be lowered by injury or depressed vitality. In this way conditions formerly believed to be the causes of disease are now recognized as playing their part in predisposing to the action of the true causal agent, viz. the bacterium. In health the blood and internal tissues are bacterium-free; after death they offer a most suitable pabulum for various bacteria; but between these two extremes lie states of varying liability to infection. It is also probable that in a state of health organisms do gain entrance to the blood from time to time and are rapidly killed off. The circumstances which alter the virulence of bacteria will be referred to again in connexion with immunity, but it may be stated here that, as a general rule, the virulence of an organism towards an animal is increased by sojourn in the tissues of that animal. The increase of virulence becomes especially marked when the organism is inoculated from animal to animal in series, the method ofpassage. This is chiefly to be regarded as an adaptation to surroundings, though the fact that the less virulent members of the bacterial species will be liable to be killed off also plays a part. Conversely, the virulence tends to diminish on cultivation on artificial media outside the body, especially in circumstances little favourable to growth.
By immunity is meant non-susceptibility to a given disease,Immunity.or to experimental inoculation with a given bacterium or toxin. The term must be used in a relative sense, and account must always be taken of the conditions present. An animal may be readily susceptible to a disease on experimental inoculation, and yet rarely or never suffer from it naturally, because the necessary conditions of infection are not supplied in nature. That an animal possesses natural immunity can only be shown on exposing it to such conditions, this being usually most satisfactorily done in direct experiment. Further, there are various degrees of immunity, and in this connexion conditions of local or general diminished vitality play an important part in increasing the susceptibility. Animals naturally susceptible may acquire immunity, on the one hand by successfully passing through an attack of the disease, or, on the other hand, by various methods of inoculation. Two chief varieties of artificial immunity are now generally recognized, differing chiefly according to the mode of production. In the first—active immunity—a reaction or series of reactions is produced in the body of the animal, usually by injections of bacteria or their products. The second—passive immunity—is produced by the transference of a quantity of the serum of an animal actively immunized to a fresh animal; the term is applied because there is brought into play no active change in the tissues of the second animal. The methods of active immunity have been practically applied inpreventive inoculationagainst disease; those of passive immunity have given usserum therapeutics. The chief facts with regard to each may now be stated.
1.Active Immunity.—The key to the artificial establishment of active immunity is given by the fact long established that recovery from an attack of certain infective diseases is accompanied by protection for varying periods of time against a subsequent attack. Hence follows the idea of producing a modified attack of the disease as a means of prevention—a principle which had been previously applied in inoculation against smallpox. Immunity, however, probably results from certain substances introduced into the system during the disease rather than from the disease itself; for by properly adjusted doses of the poison (in the widest sense), immunity may result without any symptoms of the disease occurring. Of the chief methods used in producing active immunity the first is by inoculation with bacteria whose virulence has been diminished,i.e.with an "attenuated virus." Many of the earlier methods of attenuation were devised in the case of the anthrax bacillus, an organism which is, however, somewhat exceptional as regards the relative stability of its virulence. Many such methods consist, to speak generally, in growing the organism outside the body under somewhat unsuitable conditions,e.g.at higher temperatures than the optimum, in the presence of weak antiseptics, &c. The virulence of many organisms, however, becomes diminished when they are grown on the ordinary artificial media, and the diminution is sometimes accelerated by passing a currentof air over the surface of the growth. Sometimes also the virulence of a bacterium for a particular kind of animal becomes lessened on passing it through the body of one of another species. Cultures of varying degree of virulence may be obtained by such methods, and immunity can be gradually increased by inoculation with vaccines of increasing virulence. The immunity may be made to reach a very high degree by ultimately using cultures of intensified virulence, this "supervirulent" character being usually attained by the method ofpassagealready explained. A second method is by injection of the bacterium in the dead condition, whereby immunity against the living organism may be produced. Here manifestly the dose may be easily controlled, and may be gradually increased in successive inoculations. This method has a wide application. A third method is by injections of the separated toxins of a bacterium, the resulting immunity being not only against the toxin, but, so far as present knowledge shows, also against the living organism. In the development of toxin-immunity the doses, small at first, are gradually increased in successive inoculations; or, as in the case of very active toxins, the initial injections are made with toxin modified by heat or by the addition of various chemical substances. Immunity of the same nature can be acquired in the same way against snake and scorpion poisons, and against certain vegetable toxins,e.g.ricin, abrin, &c.
In order that the immunity may reach a high degree, either the bacterium in a very virulent state or a large dose of toxin must ultimately be used in the injections. In such cases the immunity is, to speak generally, specific,i.e.applies only to the bacterium or toxin used in its production. A certain degree of non-specific immunity or increased tissue resistance may be produced locally,e.g.in the peritoneum, by injections of non-pathogenic organisms, peptone, nucleic acid and various other substances. In these cases the immunity is without specific character, and cannot be transferred to another animal. Lastly, in a few instances one organism has an antagonistic action to another; for example, the products ofB. pyocyaneushave a certain protective action againstB. anthracis. This method has, however, not yielded any important practical application.
2.Passive Immunity: Anti-sera.—The development of active immunity by the above methods is essentially the result of a reactive process on the part of the cells of the body, though as yet we know little of its real nature. It is, however, also accompanied by the appearance of certain bodies in the blood serum of the animal treated, to which the name ofanti-substancesis given, and these have been the subject of extensive study. It is by means of them that immunity (passive) can be transferred to a fresh animal. The development of anti-substances is, however, not peculiar to bacteria, but occurs also when alien cells of various kinds, proteins, ferments, &c., are injected. In fact, organic molecules can be divided into two classes according as they give rise to anti-substances or fail to do so. Amongst the latter, the vegetable poisons of known constitution, alkaloids, glucosides, &c., are to be placed. The molecules which lead to the production of anti-substances are usually known as antigens, and each antigen has a specific combining affinity for its corresponding anti-substance, fitting it as a lock does a key. The antigens, as already indicated, may occur in bacteria, cells, &c., or they may occur free in a fluid. Anti-substances may be arranged, as has been done by Ehrlich, into three main groups. In the first group, the anti-substance simply combines with the antigen, without, so far as we know, producing any change in it. The antitoxins are examples of this variety. In the second group, the anti-substance, in addition to combining with the antigen, produces some recognizable physical change in it; the precipitins and agglutinins may be mentioned as examples. In the third group, the anti-substance, after it has combined with the antigen, leads to the union of a third body calledcomplement(alexineorcytaseof French writers), which is present in normal serum. As a result of the union of the three substances, a dissolving or digestive action is often to be observed. This is the mode of action of the anti-substances in the case of a haemolytic or bacteriolytic serum. So far as bacterial immunity is concerned, the anti-serum exerts its action either on the toxin or on the bacterium itself; that is, its action is either antitoxic or anti-bacterial. The properties of these two kinds of serum may now be considered.
The term "antitoxic" signifies that serum has the power ofAntitoxic serum.neutralizing the action of the toxin, as is shown by mixing them together outside the body and then injecting them into an animal. The antitoxic serum when injected previously to the toxin also confers immunity (passive) against it; when injected after the toxin it has within certain limits a curative action, though in this case its dose requires to be large. The antitoxic property is developed in a susceptible animal by successive and gradually increasing doses of the toxin. In the earlier experiments on smaller animals the potency of the toxin was modified for the first injections, but in preparing antitoxin for therapeutical purposes the toxin is used in its unaltered condition, the horse being the animal usually employed. The injections are made subcutaneously and afterwards intravenously; and, while the dose must be gradually increased, care must be taken that this is not done too quickly, otherwise the antitoxic power of the serum may fall and the health of the animal suffer. The serum of the animal is tested from time to time against a known amount of toxin,i.e.is standardized. The unit of antitoxin in Ehrlich's new standard is the amount requisite to antagonize 100 times the minimum lethal dose of a particular toxin to a guinea-pig of 250 grm. weight, the indication that the toxin has been antagonized being that a fatal result does not follow within five days after the injection. In the case of diphtheria the antitoxic power of the serum may reach 800 units per cubic centimetre, or even more. The laws of antitoxin production and action are not confined to bacterial toxins, but apply also to other vegetable and animal toxins, resembling them in constitution, viz. the vegetable toxalbumoses and the snake-venom group referred to above.
The production of antitoxin is one of the most striking facts ofAction of antitoxin.biological science, and two important questions with regard to it must next be considered, viz. how does the antitoxin act? and how is it formed within the body? Theoretically there are two possible modes of action: antitoxin may act by means of the cells of the body,i.e.indirectly or physiologically; or it may act directly on the toxin,i.e.chemically or physically. The second view may now be said to be established, and, though the question cannot be fully discussed here, the chief grounds in support of a direct action may be given. (a) The action of antitoxin on toxin, as tested by neutralization effects, takes place more quickly in concentrated than in weak solutions, and more quickly at a warm (within certain limits) than at a cold temperature. (b) Antitoxin acts more powerfully when injected along with the toxin than when injected at the same time in another part of the body; if its action were on the tissue-cells one would expect that the site of injection would be immaterial. For example, the amount necessary to neutralize five times the lethal dose being determined, twenty times that amount will neutralize a hundred times the lethal dose. In the case of physiological antagonism of drugs this relationship does not hold. (c) It has been shown by C. J. Martin and Cherry, and by A. A. Kanthack and Cobbett, that in certain instances the toxin can be made to pass through a gelatine membrane, whereas the antitoxin cannot, its molecules being of larger size. If, however, toxin be mixed with antitoxin for some time, it can no longer be passed through, presumably because it has become combined with the antitoxin.
Lastly it may be mentioned that when a toxin has some action which can be demonstrated in a test-tube experiment, for example, a dissolving action on red corpuscles, this action may be annulled by previously adding the antitoxin to toxin; in such a case the intervention of the living tissues is excluded. In view of the fact that antitoxin has a direct action on toxin, we may say that theoretically this may take place in one of two ways. It may produce a disintegration of the toxin molecule, or it may combine with it to produce a body whose combining affinities are satisfied. The latter view, first advocated byEhrlich, harmonizes with the facts established with regard to toxic action and the behaviour of antitoxins, and may now be regarded as established. His view as to the dual composition of the toxin molecule has already been mentioned, and it is evident that if the haptophorous or combining group has its affinity satisfied by union with antitoxin, the toxin will no longer combine with living cells, and will thus be rendered harmless. One other important fact in support of what has been stated is that a toxin may have its toxic action diminished, and may still require the same amount of antitoxin as previously for neutralization. This is readily intelligible on the supposition that the toxophorous group is more labile than the haptophorous. There is, however, still dispute with regard to the exact nature of the union of toxin and antitoxin. Ehrlich's view is that the two substances form a firm combination like a strong acid and a base. He found, however, that if he took the largest amount of toxin which was just neutralized by a given amount of antitoxin, much more than a single dose of toxin had to be added before a single dose was left free. For example, if 100 doses of toxin were neutralized by a unit of antitoxin (v. supra) it might be that 125 doses would need to be added to the same amount of antitoxin before the mixture produced a fatal result when it was injected. This result, which is usually known now as the "Ehrlich phenomenon," was explained by him on the supposition that the "toxin" does not represent molecules which are all the same, but contains molecules of different degrees of combining affinity and of toxic action. Accordingly, the most actively toxic molecules will be neutralized first, and those which are left over, that is, uncombined with antitoxin, will have a weaker toxic action. This view has been assailed by Thorvald Madsen and S. A. Arrhenius, who hold that the union of toxin and antitoxin is comparatively loose, and belongs to the class of reversible actions, being comparable in fact with the union of a weak acid and base. If such were the condition there would always be a certain amount both of free toxin and of free antitoxin in the mixture, and in this case also considerably more than a dose of toxin would have to be added to a "neutral mixture" before the amount of free toxin was increased by a dose, that is, before the mixture became lethal. It may be stated that while in certain instances the union of toxin and antitoxin may be reversible, all the facts established cannot be explained on this simple hypothesis of reversible action. Still another view, advocated by Bordet, is that the union of toxin and antitoxin is rather of physical than of strictly chemical nature, and represents an interaction of colloidal substances, a sort of molecular deposition by which the smaller toxin molecule becomes entangled in the larger molecule of antitoxin. Sufficient has been said to show that the subject is one of great intricacy, and no simple statement with regard to it is as yet possible. We are probably safe in saying, however, that the molecules of a toxin are not identical but vary in the degree of their combining affinities, and also in their toxic action, and that, while in some cases the combination of anti-substances has been shown to be reversible, we are far from being able to say that this is a general law.