228 



death of other forms of living matter being appropriated by 

 the growing vegetable organisms which are seen in such im- 

 mense numbers. 



It would seem, therefore, reasoning from the facts in this 

 one form of inflammation, that there can be little doubt as 

 regards the nature of the poison. The minute particles of 

 bioplasm or living matter produced in such great numbers 

 as the inflammation advanced, are the actual agents, and it 

 is by their rapid growth and multiplication in the lymph, 

 and afterwards in the blood, particularly in the capillaries in 

 various parts of the body, that the dreadful effects exerted 

 by these particles in an organism into wliich some have 

 been introduced by inoculation, must be attributed. 



It seems, then, that every stage in the production of at 

 least this particular virulent poison, may be watched and 

 studied, and from the facts ascertained a connected history 

 of its development may be compiled. We have seen that 

 the first particles of bioplasm resulted directly from the Avhite 

 blood-corpuscles. In consequence of continued free access 

 of nutrient material, series after series, generation after gene- 

 ration, of new particles was produced ; each series degene- 

 rating in formative power, and acquiring new powers, but 

 of mere groAvth and multiplication, and a capacity for living 

 upon materials which would not have been appropriated by 

 the bioplasm from which it originated. The following diagram 

 may perhaps assist in rendering my meaning clearer. 





abed « f 



White blood- Contagions 



corpuscle. disease germs. 



Healthy bioplasm. Morbid bioplasm. 



Formative. Destructive. 



Successive series of living particles resulting from the grovfth and multi- 

 plication of a single white blood-corpuscle. Each series grows faster than 

 the one from which it originated. In the plan, tlie process of multiplication 

 is represented as if it only occurred in t he case of one particle in eacii series, 

 but, in order that an accurate conception of the process may be formed, similar 

 radiatim? lines with biof)lasts must be supj)Osed to diverge from every part 

 of the circumference of every particle. a. Is a white blood-corpu;^cie ; b, 

 c, d, and e, Successive scries of particles which produce others, until at 

 last, contagious disease germs, y, result. 



The contagious disease-carrying bioplast is then a descend- 

 ant of the white blood corpuscle, or some other form of 



