Abstract
Bacteria and many colloidal substances injected intravenously rapidly disappear from the blood stream. This is due chiefly to the phagocytic activity of the reticulo-endothelial system of the liver, spleen, lungs and bone marrow, where the foreign particles may be demonstrated within the cells. The endothelium of other organs such as the kidney, muscle and skin, normally lack this function. Experiments are here reported which demonstrate a temporary phagocytic acitivity of the capillary endothelium of the skin, following injury of various sorts. This activity appears almost immediately after the trauma and disappears within an hour, and constitutes, perhaps, the initial stage of inflammation.
A rabbit that had previously been found allergic to certain bacterial filtrates was selected. Sterile filtrate of B. lepisepticum (0.2 mil.) was injected intradermally at hourly intervals along the previously shaved side of the animal. After 5 or more hours, erythema appeared at the sites first injected, while the more recently injected ones showed nothing after the absorption of the filtrate. Diluted India ink of pressure, but usually it requires from 3 to 5 cycles for the full effect to take place. This delay does not appear to be: related to the manner of introducing the pressure, since it occurs similarly in instances where the full 60 atmospheres is turned on almost instantaneously. If the pressure is maintained on the heart the records show a gradual decline in the height of the contractions. With release of the pressure the effect on contraction is equally striking but opposite in character-the contractions show a sudden falling off to an amplitude considerably below the pre-pressure level. There follows a period of recovery which varies in degree in different experiments, but commonly the records show a complete return to the pre-pressure amplitude.
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