Highlights in the History of Microbiology 47 



liquid at body temperature, that vital warmth needed to cultivate 

 many pathogenic organisms. 



At this point let us introduce a man who had worked in Koch's 

 laboratory-Dr. Walther Hesse ( 1846-1911) -and his wife, Fanny 

 Eilshemius (1850-1934), his faithful technician. He had labored 



Fig. 14. Frau Fanny Eilshemius and Dr. Walther Hesse. {Courtesy 

 of Morris C. Leikind. From the Journal of Bacteriology, 19S9, 37, 487.) 



on the bacteriology of the atmosphere using gelatin as a solidifying 

 agent for his many bouillon concoctions necessary to cultivate the 

 organisms in the air. His maddening failures when the gelatin 

 was attacked by the organisms drove Hesse to seek new solidif>dng 

 agents. Mrs. Hesse made an epic suggestion for which Koch is 

 often given more credit than is probablv due him. She had been 

 using agar-agar (derived from the Malayan agal-agal, which 



