The examination of cow's milk for the detection of pathogenic properties / by Sheridan Delépine.

  • Delépine, Sheridan, 1855-1921.
Date:
[between 1890 and 1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The examination of cow's milk for the detection of pathogenic properties / by Sheridan Delépine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    these milks were found to be tuberculous. In some eighty specimens of mixed milk which I have examined microscopically for tubercle bacilli I have not been able to demonstrate clearly this organism. I may say, however, that in no case have I examined more than four drops of sediment, and generally not more than two. 4. With regard to inoculations it is also necessary to keep a few points in mind. It is not advisable to inject large quantities of milk into the peritoneal cavity and still less under the skin of guinea-pigs. Yet it is necessary that the number of bacilli injected should not be too small, or else the animal inoculated might resist the tuberculous invasion. I have found that when more than 2 ccs. (about 30 minims) of milk are injected subcutaneously, a painful swelling is produced, often associated with necrosis of the tissues. 2 ccs. of pure milk can be injected without producing evidence of more discomfort than an ordinary injection of morphia would produce in man. I have therefore invariably separated the sediment from about 3 ounces of milk, and injected half of that sediment mixed with 2 ccs. of the milk from which it had been separated under the skin of one guinea-pig, and the other half of the sediment mixed with 5 ccs. of the same milk into the peritoneal cavity of another guinea-pig. The animals were then kept from the very beginning in separate disinfected cages in a warm, well-ventilated and well-lighted animal house. Under these conditions, in most cases, they seemed to suffer in no way from the injection, and a few minutes after the injection they looked as well as before. In a few cases, however, the milk proved highly virulent and killed the animals within forty-eight hours. Such milk when taken uncooked in large quantities would probably cause gastro-intestinal troubles. With the exception of the few that died thus, and of some others that died from accidental causes unconnected with the inoculations, all the other animals were kept three, four, and sometimes up to seven weeks. They were then killed and a careful post-viortevi examination made. 5. In the case of the animals inoculated in the leg all the lymphatic glands situated on the lymphatic paths carrying the lymph from the inoculated part were examined ; so were the spleen and the liver and very often other viscera as well. In the case of animals inoculated in the peritoneum, the mesenteric ganglia, the spleen, the liver, the diaphragmatic and pelvic lymphatics and the peritoneum itself were minutely examined. Tuberculous lesions of some of these parts can be recognised easily with the naked eye from ten days to two weeks after inoculation, and after four weeks they are in all quite unmistakable. Yet to leave no room for doubt, whenever the lymphatic ganglia, the spleen, or the liver showed any signs of inflammation they were examined^micro- scopically with a view to discover whether tubercle bacilli might be present against all expectations. In .some cases I have also i.solatcd the bacteria that had caused acute inflammatory lesions of the peri- toneum, subcutaneous tissue, lymphatic ganglia, or spleen. A bacillus resembling closely, if not identical with, the bacillus coli communis has been found to be the cause of rapidly fatal peritonitis in several cases, and seems to have been the cause of death in at least