In any consideration of tissue autolysis, which means the destructive changes which take place in tissues disconnected from their blood supply, one is immediately impressed by two facts. First, most of the previous discussions on the fatal outcome have centered around the part played by Bacillus Welchii, or the gas bacillus. Second, the problem has been regarded almost entirely as an experimental one. In only a few of the excellent contributions to the subject is there even a hint of a possible clinical application. We disagree with both of these points of view. Our own experimental work has led us to believe that the rôle of the gas bacillus in the fatal outcome is an entirely secondary one. Our experimental and clinical work on the so-called "liver death" has led us to believe that the problem has a clinical aspect which heretofore has been almost entirely overlooked.
The gas bacillus