The pathology of syphilis of the nervous system in the light of modern research : Morison Lectures, 1909 / by F.W. Mott.

  • Mott, F. W. (Frederick Walker), 1853-1926
Date:
[1948?]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The pathology of syphilis of the nervous system in the light of modern research : Morison Lectures, 1909 / by F.W. Mott. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ARCHIVES and numbers of others have confirmed this important discovery, and many new facts have been added to our knowledge of the general patho- logy of syphilis by experiments on apes and other animals, and I would mention in particular the important discovery by Bertarelli, who was able to inoculate the spirochaete into the cornea of the rabbit and transmit it through a series of such animals. Levaditi has experimented successfully with the cornea from one of these animals and not only transmitted it through a series of rabbits, but used the cornea infected with spirochaetes to produce an infection of the eyelid of an anthropoid ape. Lastly may be mentioned the important observations upon the bio- chemical changes in the fluids of the body by the Wassermann, Neisser Briick method of serum diagnosis. Upon this tripod, of the discovery of the specific spirochaete, the communication of the disease to apes and the serum diagnosis, a vast amount of most valuable work rests, the tripod is mutually supporting and every day fresh evidence is forthcoming to strengthen the opinion that the true cause of syphilis has been dis- covered; that, although as yet no vaccine has been successful, this is no longer a hopeless outlook; and, lastly, a most valuable means of diagnosis of syphilis and parasvphilis has been obtained. The Microbiology of Syphilis. The Spirochceta Pallida examined in fresh preparations is seen with much greater difficulty than other coarser spirochaetes which may exist in the primary sores on the genitals or secondary papules of mucous sur- faces. Hoffmann states in order to find them, it is necessary to seek the edges of red blood corpuscles, to which they often are seen to be attached by one end (a process of chemotropism). It is barely thick and possesses on an average 8-12 very regular, narrow, and very steep coils, the height of which at the ends diminishes somewhat. (Vide Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, Plate I.) The length of this cork-screw-like organism varies within wide limits, from a few up to 26 coils or even more. Examined with a paraboloidal reflecting substage condenser, by which living organisms appear light on a dark background, the Spirocliceta Pallida, can be seen to rotate on its long axis and oscillate to and fro with a pendulum-like movement, contrasting thus with the coarser and larger spirochaetes, which have an eel-like movement. An observation of Hoffmann showed that the untreated serum of a syphilitic patient caused a cessation of movement after about a couple of hours.