l68 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



We have quoted the words in which Dr. Salisbury 

 sums up his conclusions as to the source and origin of 

 ague, but we fear that the whole account must now be 

 regarded as a pretty " fairy tale," and that the true 

 source of intermittent fevers must be sought in 

 another direction. There is no ground for supposing 

 that the learned doctor acted otherwise than in per- 

 fect good faith, and truthfully described all he saw 

 and experienced ; the initial facts may have been 

 perfectly true, and yet his inferences be proved false 

 and untenable. The little romance vanishes before 

 the strong light which has been thrown upon the 

 Bacteriological theory of epidemic disease. 



In 1872 Dr. Bartlett, of Chicago, sent over to this 

 country some mud containing plants of that which 

 he conceived to be the ague-plant of Dr. Salisbury. 

 He says, " I sought for the plants described by him 

 in the ague bottom of the Mississippi River, opposite 

 Keokuk, Iowa." ^ " By placing the cake of earth, 

 sent you, in a plate, and adding water enough to 

 make it of about the consistence of potter's clay, and 

 keeping it at a temperature above 60°, you will find 

 a fresh crop of the plant to develop, and you will 

 thus have an opportunity of studying them. Should 

 you allow them to flourish and remain uncovered in 

 your room, you might have the satisfaction of de- 

 monstrating the ' cause of ague.' This plant was 

 first found, so far as I know, by Dr. J. P. Safford, of 

 Keokuk, who was kind enough to search for me while 

 I visited a fever patient. In the locality of their 

 growth they are to be seen in myriads, and near 



' Crevilka (1872), vol. i. p. 95. 



