In 1914, Rosenow,1 by making cultures from the emulsified wall of the gallbladder of selected patients, found streptococci in most instances, and reproduced cholecystitis in animals by injecting intravenously the freshly isolated organisms. The work recorded in this report is similar to that of Rosenow, except that all gallbladders removed in operations in the Mayo Clinic, regardless of the degree of pathologic changes, were cultured.
The tissues were cultured as soon as possible after their removal, every effort being made to prevent contamination. Immediately before emulsifying, the tissues were thoroughly washed in large volumes of physiologic sodium chlorid solution. They were then ground in mortars within sterile air chambers or in a hood, the air of which was washed by means of steam from a sterilizer fastened to the end of the hood. The operator wore gloves and sleeves which, with the materials used, were sterilized in the sterilizers opening