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fever lose their power of movement, and become collected
into clumps (or agglutinated, as it is called), in fluids containing
the specific antitoxin of the disease, and this
antitoxin is developed in the blood of all patients suffering
from typhoid very shortly after the invasion of the disease.
When the reaction is well marked, and only a high dilution
of the suspected blood-serum used (e.g., 1/60 to 1/100), this
diagnostic method is exceedingly useful and most trustworthy.
Practical proof has again been shown of this in
connection with a localised small outbreak of Typhoid in
Lambeth during 1900. Doubtful, or suspected cases were
heard of by means of house-to-house enquiries, and the
diagnosis only settled, in a large proportion of the cases, by
this serum test. A ready means of differential diagnosis
was much needed, as there were many cases of Influenza
in and around the immediate neighbourhoods of the
Typhoid outbreaks at the time.
Diphtheria.
469 samples of throat membranes and secretions from
doubtful Diphtheria cases have been examined during the
year, and in 95 (i.e., 20.3%) the true (Klebs-Loeffler)
bacilli have been obtained. In 74 instances (i.e., 77.9%)
the Klebs-Lceffler bacilli were obtained in pure cultivation—
i.e., without admixture with other bacilli, whereas in the
remaining 21 (i.e., 22.1% ) the Klebs Lceffler bacilli were
found combined with other well-known bacilli as follows:—
Klebs-Lœffler+Streptococci 5 i.e., 5.3%
Klebs-Lœffler+Staphylococci 5 i.e., 5.3%
Klebs-Lœffler + Streptococci+
Staphylococci 3 i.e., 3.2%
Klebs-Lœffler Streptococci+
Staphylococci+Oidia 2 i.e., 2.1%
Klebs-Lœffler+Pseudo-bacilli 1 i.e.,1.05%