44 president's address. 



It is, of course, understood that the function of the sapro- 

 phytic organisms is, to instantly attack dead organic struc- 

 tures ; whether or not their own vitality may be increased by 

 certain modifications of environment, so that they may be able 

 to attack living organic tissues whose vitality has been greatly 

 reduced is a point which I believe extremely worthy of atten- 

 tion. I have certainly seen indications that this may be so. 



But what is even more to our purpose is, that the whole of 

 the large number of competent observers whose results we 

 have reviewed, have agreed in discovering in influenza patients, 

 alive or dead, a rather motley group of bacteria, no one of 

 which is known to be possessed normally of the function of 

 producing the symptoms commonly known as influenza. 



It is, of course, possible that this affection may not originate 

 in any microbic form ; nevertheless analogy points strongly in 

 that direction, and the question which to my mind needs as 

 early an answer as it can obtain is this, viz., seeing that the 

 kindred forms to the pathogenic bacteria, viz., the saprophytic 

 organisms, are eminently mutable in Junction, although com- 

 paratively stable in form, is it not possible, and, therefore, 

 worthy of close inquiry and research, that the several and 

 various forms of bacilli and other bacteria found in influenza 

 patients may not, by some means not now known to us, have 

 become possessed of functions which make them in that state 

 virulent to man ? 



I venture to believe that the question of the functional 

 mutability of these organisms and its causes and consequences 

 will form some considerable portion of the work of the next 

 quarter of a century. 



