214 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[November, 



ture. Tliey do not differ from us 

 as to the fact that the red cells are 

 transformed from the white in the 

 bone marrow, Init only as to its 

 method. Our reasons for believing 

 that the change is entire rather 

 than partial in structure are : 1st, no 

 one has ever seen the rupture of 

 the enclosing cell-wall of the ' tran-' 

 sition ' form that must occur if 

 the latter be true, and in the event 

 of it not occurring, the endogenous 

 method is fallacious ; 2d, in her 

 modes of development, nature al- 

 ways adhei'es to fixed law alike for 

 all homologous and analogous con- 

 ditions. Iter principle in the evo- 

 lution of a specialized ' expression ' 

 out of a generalized one is not that 

 when the former appears there is a 

 consentaneous disappearance of the 

 latter, but that it remains and is 

 only modified by its more highly 

 developed constituent. * * * 

 On the transformation of tlie red 

 nucleated cell into the red non- 

 nucleated one, tliere is no necessity 

 to consider a rupture of the wall 

 and the escape of a nucleus ; rather 

 let us believe that the nucleus dis- 

 appears by specialization, and im- 

 parts its own inherent vitality to 

 the new red blood-corpuscle, by 

 virtue of which it is distinguished 

 in its functions from the white 

 corpuscle and its transitional forms." 



The Destruction of Germs. 



If contagious diseases and pu- 

 trefaction are caused by the develop- 

 ment of living germs, as is generally 

 supposed, then it becomes of im- 

 portance that we should be able to 

 destroy these organisms. An article 

 in The Popular Science Monthly^ 

 gives an account of some interesting 

 experiments upon the destruction oi 

 Buch germs. Clothing materials were 

 impregnated with putrifying fluids 

 and dried. When dried slowly and 



placed in a suitable fluid, the bac- 

 teria immediately developed, but if 

 heated to a temperature of 125° to 

 150" C, they produced no change 

 in the solution. Among the sulj- 

 stances that kill the bacteria may 

 be mentioned various mineral poi- 

 sons, benzoic acid and its salts 

 salicylic acid, quinia and carbolic 

 acid. The latter substance, which 

 is such an active poison to bacteria, 

 has been discovered as one of the 

 products of bacterian fermentation ; 

 alcohol is also found under similar 

 circumstances and is also a poison 

 to the organisms. " The discovery 

 of the curious relations of these two 

 substances gives a new light upon 

 the cause of the spontaneous de- 

 struction of bacteria in strongly 

 fermenting fluids, and encourages 

 us to look for other substances 

 having a similar origin and a like 

 action." 



To test this question experiments 

 were made with a mixture of 

 chopped meat and water with the 

 following results : — 



1. As preventives of decomposi- 

 tion : — 



Indol in a proportion of 1: 1,000 



of the mixture. 

 Kresol in a proportion of 2 : 1,000. 

 Phenylacetic acid in a proportion 



of 2.5: 1,000. 

 Carbolic acid in a proportion of 



5: 1,000. 



2. As aseptics — killing transplanted 

 organisms by poisoning the sup- 

 porting fluid : — 



Scatol in a proportion of 0.4 r 



1,000. 

 Hydrocinnamic acid in a propor- 



portion of 0.6 : 1,000. 

 Indol in a proportion of 0.6 : 1,000. 

 Kresol in a proportion of 0.8: 1 ,000 



of the mixture. 

 Phenylacetic acid in a proportion 



of 1.2: 1,000. 



