The invention pertains to a cartridge (1) with at least one chamber (6a, 6b) for accommodating a substance that respectively features a dispensing opening (11a, 11b) and another opening that is closed by a piston (8a, 8b) that can be displaced in the chamber and serves for dispensing the substance. The cartridge (1) furthermore features a piston rod mechanism (4) for displacing the piston (8a, 8b) in the chamber (6a, 6b). In this case, the piston rod mechanism is composed of several piston rods (14, 14a, 14b, 15, 15′) that can be transferred from a first dispensing stage to a second dispensing stage with the aid of a spring element (18, 18a, 18b).