AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURATIVE ACTION OF PENICILLIN IN ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS

Abstract

Type I pneumococci injected into the leg muscles of otherwise normal mice reached a maximum total population of approximately 10⁶ organisms. In mice rendered severely leucopenic by previous irradiation the maximum bacterial counts recorded were of the order of 10⁹. Since the lesions in the latter animals were relatively acellular, the thousandfold difference in the two experiments represented a rough measure of the antibacterial action of the leucocytic exudate.