Abstract
Experiments begun in 1916 by one of the authors 1 to test in vitro by the tissue culture method the comparative action of certain bacterial substances on tissues and on bacteria have been continued. In the previous studies human tissues were used and a uniform exposure of one hour was employed. In the present experiments rabbit tissue (spleen) was used throughout, and the time of exposure in the first series of experiments was twenty minutes. The antiseptics tested have included alcohol, iodine, mercuric chloride, mercurochrome, acriflavine, protargol, albargin, gentian violet, neosalvarsan, and hexylresorcinol.
The spleen of a freshly killed rabbit was divided into pieces of about 1 mm. in diameter. After washing in physiological salt solution, one lot of the fragments was placed one minute in a suspension of Staphyloccoccus aureus, and then put in graded solutions of the antiseptic for 20 minutes. Tissue cultures were then prepared in hanging drops of homologous plasma, following two washings of the tissue in salt solution. A second set of cultures were made from non-infected tissues similarly exposed with appropriate controls of untreated tissues. The comparative effect of these antiseptics on splenic cells and staphylococci is shown in the following table.
It is seen that in the majority of instances, particularly in the case of several of the newer antiseptics, bacteria proved decidedly
more resistent than cells. The most favorable results were obtained with iodine, mercuric chloride, and neosalvarsan. It is possible, however, that even in these cases the surviving tissue cells may have come from the center of the small fragments where they were partially protected.
A second series of experiments was carried out in which the antiseptic was added directly to the plasma culture medium.
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