New Zealand White rabbits were used in these studies and maintained according to the ARVO Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research. The rabbits were anesthetized by subcutaneous injection of a mixture of xylazine (100 mg/mL; Butler Company, Columbus, OH) and ketamine hydrochloride (100 mg/mL; Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA). Proparacaine hydrochloride was topically applied to each eye before intrastromal injection. Five groups of rabbits were used, and the corneas of these rabbits were injected intrastromally with 10 μL of the following: (1) Todd-Hewitt broth (the suspending solution), (2) capsular S. pneumoniae Avery’s strain (approximately 105 CFU), (3) noncapsular S. pneumoniae strain R6 (approximately 105 CFU), (4) UV-killed Avery’s strain (equivalent to approximately 105 CFU), and (5) UV-killed strain R6 (equivalent to approximately 105 CFU). The number of corneas for groups 1 to 5, were 6, 13, 11, 6, and 6, respectively.