A Study of the Bactericidal Power of the Blood during Pregnancy and the Puerperium, and Its Relationship to the Development and Course of Puerperal Infection

of Burt-White and Armstrong,1 however, would appear to call into question the validity of the conclusions offered by previous observers. Burt-White and Armstrong examined the cervical flora in 5 5 pregnant women ; in 40 per cent, of these cases streptococci of different types were isolated, but in only one did the strain present the characters of the streptococcus pyogenes, the common cause of puerperal fever; they report, moreover, 15 cases of pregnant women whose cervices harboured haemolytic streptococci, including streptococcus pyogenes, and in none did sepsis occur. These workers conclude that " the presence of the haemolytic streptococcus in the reproductive tract does not necessarily give rise to sepsis