StUDIILS on (]R()\\N CiAI.I, Ol- Pl.ANTS 44l 



you have achicvcJ. It seems to me a most valuable contribution to the 

 study of Neoplasms. If you know the chapters on Neoplasia in the first 

 volume of my Principles of Fatholoi^y, you will uiulerstaml that I am of an 

 open mind on the subject of the relationship of microbes to the origin of 

 tumours. I am wholly ready to accept what you have shown, namely, that 

 there are bacteria of such a qradc of virulence that they initiate cell pro- 

 literation rather than cell destruction. I rather incline to the belief, however, 

 that those having initiated proliferation, the cells then acquire the " habit 

 of growth " and may continue to proliferate in the absence of the primary 

 stimulant. Tims I am not a little interested to sec that in the older growths 

 you note the dilliculty in obtaining cultures. Is it your opinion that these 

 growths continue developing actively for months after the germs have 

 practically disappeared.^ There is a method, by the by, worked out by 

 Duval, which is very- successful in staining refractory bacteria in animal 

 tissue. I cannot at the moment put my hands upon the reference. It might 

 be worth your while to write to him at Tulanc University, New Orleans, 

 for the technique. 



Lastly, looking at your admirable and abundant photographs, I am im- 

 pelled to ask you whether you have one or two examples of these galls that 

 you could spare for our Museum. 



June 20, 1911, the United States Bureau of Plant Industry 

 published a four-paged circular, number 85, prepared by Smith, 

 and entitled, " Crown-Gall and Sarcoma." Receiving a copy of 

 this in England, Dr. William Osier, Regius Professor of Medicine 

 at Oxford, quickly expressed to Smith his considerate encourage- 

 ment: " What a suggestive paper on Crotvn Gall and Sarcoma\ " 

 he exclaimed. "Most interesting in every way!" Since this 

 communication was written on July 4, 1911, Dr. Osier might 

 have had before him a copy of Smith's address, " Crown Gall and 

 Sarcoma," presented on the April 13 previous before the American 

 Association for Cancer Research, meeting that year at Buffalo, 

 New York. Proceedings of the Association that year were pub- 

 lished in the Zeitschrtjt flir Krehsforschung of Berlin, and reprints 

 of the substance of Smith's main points and the discussion which 

 followed were made available. 



In this presentation, Smith called attention to the subject matter 

 of his bulletin, " Crown-Gall of Plants: Its Cause and Remedy," 

 and to three new and added facts: 



1. When a stem-tumor produces secondary tumors in a leaf, the struc- 

 ture of the leaf-tumor is like that of the stem. 



2. In a certain proportion of the cases (I do not know yet whether in 



