38 Background of Work and Study in Public Health 



treatise on The Bacteria. The first edition of this work was pub- 

 lished in French in 1880; and by November 30, 1882, he had 

 prepared for the Michigan School Moderator '^'^ "a short account 

 of the bacteria." He recommended the translation as the "best 

 book on this subject for English readers. . . . This, however," he 

 cautioned, "was published two years ago, since which time there 

 have been important discoveries and many changes of opinion." 



By this time the alert, young student was much interested in 

 physiology and was keeping abreast of new discoveries in pathol- 

 ogy. His review of a book on the physiology of digestion took 

 into account the value of permanently recorded experimental data 

 for the building of scientific truths. He believed that the science 

 of human physiology had made "wonderful strides" since the 

 year 1833." To him, moreover, the learning revealed by the 

 microscope was like exploring " a strange, diminutive wonderland, 

 more startling and vastly more real " than any stories of Aladdin 

 or Grimm or Gulliver or Munchausen. To him the microscope 

 provided " a genuine terra incognita of wonders." ^^ 



Dr. George M. Sternberg had been graduated in I860 from the 

 College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 

 New York City, and the following year been appointed Assistant 

 Surgeon of the United States Army. In 1892 he was to present 

 his classic work, A Manual of Bacteriology,^'-^ which, prepared by 

 "one of the pioneers" in the science in this country, was to be 

 regarded as the English-reading public's "first adequate survey 

 of the bacteriological field." The work was divided into four 

 main parts: classification, morphology, and bacteriological tech- 

 nology; its general biological character; pathogenic bacteria; and 

 saprophytes. In a chapter on susceptibility and immunity, Dr. 

 Sternberg said: " The experimental evidence detailed gives strong 

 support to the view that acquired immunity depends upon the 

 formation of antitoxines in the bodies of immune animals." A 

 reviewer in Science ^'^ found that he, "while disposed to accord to 

 phagocytosis an important role in some diseases, [was] profoundly 

 impressed — as [were] most bacteriologist — by the remarkable evi- 



"3 (13): 199. 



^'' Mich. Sch. Mod. 2 (19): 938, Jan. 26, 1882. 



'«2(31): 162, Apr. 20, 1882. 



" New York, William Wood & Co., 886 pages. 



""21: 107-108, Jan. 24, 1893. 



